Women’s Hockey falls on the road to Lake Forest

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - In what was a rematch of the game from November 8 at the Ozaukee Ice Center, the Concordia University Wisconsin women's hockey team fell to Lake Forest 1-0 on Tuesday night at the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

CUW (5-4-0, 4-3-0 NCHA) outshot the Foresters 35-26 and created several great scoring chances, but LFC goaltender Jenna Brankin made a string of fine saves to keep CUW off the board.

Lake Forest (9-4-1, 8-2-0 NCHA) scored the game's only goal within the opening minutes of the first period, when Jessica Dare moved into the slot and slipped a shot through the legs of freshman goalie Kaitlyn Evans (Fairbanks, Alaska).

Outside of the lone goal given up, Evans made her fair share of big saves to keep the Falcons within one goal of their conference rival, but Brankin stood tall as the Foresters hung on for the win.

CUW head coach Jim Ingman liked his team's overall performance, and said the only thing missing was a goal.

"Their goaltender played well, but so did ours," Ingman said. "This was our best forechecking game so far this season, and we're really starting to use our speed and react quickly to the puck."

The first time these two teams went head-to-head last month, the result was a high-scoring affair that saw Lake Forest come away with a 4-3 victory.

When asked why this game was so low-scoring in contrast to the teams' first meeting, the fifth-year head coach pointed to a number of factors.

"First of all, it's later in the season at this point, and teams normally start to improve defensively as the season goes on," Ingman said. "Second, both goalies were different the second time around, and they matched each other all game long; it was a great game."

The Falcons will have a few days of practice before they travel to Tomahawk, Wis. on Saturday to take on Bethel University (Minn.)

Ingman says his team will use the practice time to focus on creating second chances around the net.

"We need to find rebounds and create those opportunities," Ingman said. "We're getting quality first shots, but we have to get quality second shots as well."

Saturday's game begins at 2 p.m.