The Lake Forest College women's hockey team hosted and defeated Saint Mary's University 4-2 Friday night in the 2022-23 season opener for both squads.
The season began with a ceremonial puck drop by Lake Forest College President Jill Baren, whose inauguration was yesterday.
The actual start of the game did not go as well for the Foresters' who fell behind after just 56 seconds of play. The home team finally tied the score on a power play goal by sophomore Anna McCluskey with just 58 seconds on the clock. Her first goal as a Forester was set up by sophomore forward Lauren Wensel and senior defenseman Karya Dean.
Lake Forest came out strong in the second and took the lead on a goal by sophomore forward Zoey Whittington just 28 seconds into the period. Senior forward Stokli Ashcraft and freshman forward Macy Gehrke assisted on the score. A penalty just 16 seconds later, however, gave the Cardinals a power play opportunity they converted at the 1:35 mark to tie the score.
Wensel netted the official game-winner and earned her first career multi-point performance at the 5:51 mark of the second. She was assisted by freshman defenseman Willow Poppleton.
The Foresters out-shot their guests 9-4 in the second period and 13-6 in the third. They added an insurance goal off the stick of senior forward Marissa Gebauer with three-and-a-half minutes to play in the contest. Ashcraft recorded her second assist of the night on the play.
Lake Forest senior goaltender Hannah Turnage, who set a program record with 15 victories a year ago, made 17 saves in her first triumph of 2022-23.
The same two teams will face off again in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
