Men's Varsity Sweeps Lake Forest

The Men’s Varsity added on to the nation’s longest current unbeaten streak this weekend, sweeping the Lake Forest College Foresters, downing the Foresters 5-1 and 8-3 on Friday and Saturday night.

The Bulldogs did not get on the board until there were 5 minutes remaining in the opening frame when Austin Hervey sent home the first goal of the night. Hervey’s goal was assisted by Daniel Lisi and Cory Dunn. Lisi would pick up his first of the night with 1:45 left in the first, Hervey would grab the lone assist on Lisi’s goal. Mathew Thompson would close out the scoring in the first, notching the third Bulldog goal of the game with 38 seconds remaining in the first period. The Bulldogs were leading 3-0 after the first and were narrowly outshooting the Foresters 12-11.

Taylor McCloy started the scoring in the second period on the powerplay at the 8:47 mark of the second. Connor Armour and Mathew Thompson both picked up assists on McCloys powerplay goal. The Bulldogs would strike once more on the powerplay, with the second goal coming from Kyle Brothers with assists going to Mathew Thompson and Cory Dunn at the 9:13 mark of the second, ending the night for the Foresters starting goaltender Leo Podolsky after scoring 5 goals on 20 shots. The Foresters would grab their own powerplay tally halfway through the game to cut the Bulldogs lead to 4.

Neither team would score in the final frame, leaving the score 5-1 at the final buzzer. Shots on goal were 42-33 in favor of the Bulldogs. Tyler Parks backstopped the Bulldogs to their 14th game without a loss (13 wins, 1 tie) and their 11th straight victory of the season. The Bulldogs were 2 for 5 on the powerplay and killed off 4 of 5 penalties over the span of 60 minutes.

The Bulldogs once again did not score until late in the first frame on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs finally put the puck past Foresters goaltender George Argiropoulos with 7 seconds remaining. Mathew Thompson would send home his first of the night after picking up the rebound from a shot from Taylor McCloy to put the Bulldogs up 1-0. McCloy and Dunn both picked up assists on Thompson’s powerplay goal. After one, shots were 13-7 and the score was 1-0, both in favor of the home team.

The second period saw 7 goals scored, 5of which were Bulldog goals. The Foresters would tie the game 16 seconds into the middle frame, the closest they would come to having a lead all weekend. Pat George would light the lamp two and a half minutes later, sending home the second Bulldog goal, giving the home team the lead once again. Kyle Brothers would knock in his second in as many games less than thirty seconds later off of a pass from Taylor McCloy, who would be awarded the assist on Brothers’ goal along with Mathew Thompson. Thompson would snag his second of the night on the powerplay at the 6:03 mark of the second with the lone assist going to Kyle Brothers. Thompson would complete the hat trick three minutes later. Austin Hervey would pick up the lone assist on Thompson’s hat trick goal. The Foresters would put up another powerplay goal with 5 minutes remaining in the second period but the Bulldogs would respond with a goal from Trevor Boyd to close out the period. Brett Pinkerton grabbed the lone assist on Boyd’s goal. The second would end with a score of 5-2 and shots on goal were 14-11, both in favor of the Bulldogs.

Daniel Lisi would grab his second in two games at the 11:53 mark of the third period. Austin Hervey would grab the lone assist and a goal of his own 6 minutes later to close out the scoring for the Bulldogs, Hervey’s goal was assisted by Cory Dunn and Jeremy Olinyk. The Foresters would score once more on the powerplay with 41 second remaining but the Bulldogs would come out on top. 8-3.

Dillon Kelly backstopped the Bulldogs to victory in the second game of the series, turning away 25 of the 28 shots he faced. The Bulldogs would outshoot the Foresters 38-48 and would go 2 for 4 on the powerplay and kill off 8 of the 10 penalties they were assessed. The Bulldogs travel to St. Norbert College next weekend to face off against the Green Knights in a highly contested match up between the top two teams in the nation. The Bulldogs are back again at AIA the weekend after that for another two game homestand against Lawrence for Alumni Weekend. Puck drop on Friday night is 7:05pm.

***Carly’s 3 Stars of the Weekend***

Mathew Thompson, Taylor McCloy, and Kyle Brothers:

The line of sophomores Thompson, McCloy, and Brothers was absolutely on fire this weekend, with the three players combining for 14 points and 28 shots in two games. When they’re on the ice, there are multiple scoring chances created and all three seem to know exactly where each other are at all times no matter what the situation. The line of sophomore powerhouses did not start the season together, however, have made an immediate impact and chances are will be staying together after their performance together the past few games and showed exactly why they’re the #1 line for the Bulldogs.