Paige Pancratz '96 was named Forester Athlete of the Week on Thursday for helping lead the women's soccer team to a pair of convincing conference victories during the 1995 season.
Pancratz scored a goal late in the first half and assisted on three other tallies during Lake Forest's 7-0 rout of visiting Beloit College on Thursday, September 21. Two days later she scored twice and added another assist as the Foresters prevailed 5-0 at Carroll College.
The victories raised the team's Midwest Conference North Division record to 4-0-0 and the Foresters finished the year a perfect 10-0-0 in league play. Their overall mark of 13-3-2 was the best in school history at that time and they set additional program records with an 11-game unbeaten streak and 58 goals on the year.
A senior team captain in 1995, Pancratz led the Foresters with 13 assists and ranked second on the squad with 27 points. Her 28 career goals, 29 assists, and 85 points ranked second in program history at the time of her graduation and she is still among the top 10 in team annals in the last two categories. She was also a four-time All-MWC North Division selection.
September 17-23 was also good to Pancratz during her first three years at the College. She scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 triumph at Ripon College and added another goal in a loss to St. Norbert College as a freshman. In 1993 she had a goal and assist in a 2-0 victory at Lawrence University before helping lead the team to a 3-0 blanking of Beloit (individual stats from the game are not available). Finally, as a junior, she set up a score in Lake Forest's 3-1 win at Lawrence and had a goal and assist in a 3-0 victory at Ripon.
Forester Women's Soccer History
Since all Lake Forest College sporting events during the fall semester have been postponed, the Athletic Department is utilizing its archives to continue the weekly recognition of high-level performances by Foresters. The department has selected a Forester Athlete of the Week since 1996, so the honorees for the rest of 2020 will have earned the distinction at least 25 years ago.
A note of gratitude goes out to Mike Dau '58, whose tireless efforts as the department's historian has made this fall's Forester Athlete of the Week research possible.
