LAKE FOREST, Ill-–The Lake Forest Scouts varsity hockey team has had a rough couple of weeks. In fact, their last win was on October 25 when they beat Deerfield 7-2. Since then, the Scouts have tied three games and lost two more. Sunday night Lake Forest was looking to get back on the winning track against the Loyola Academy Ramblers, but fell apart in the end of the second period and had no answer for the Ramblers scoring, resulting in their fifth straight game without a victory.

The first period of play did not feature any scoring, but the Scouts did have a few opportunities including a Jack Kaptrosky breakaway. Lake Forest’s possession of the puck was not their worst, but it certainly could have better. The second period was more of the same, that is until the final minute.

The game was still scoreless with under five minutes remaining in the 2nd period. Loyola and Lake Forest continued to trade chances until the 1:07 mark when Alec Piatigorsky put the puck in the back of the net with an assist from Cole Corrigan. At that point, the Scouts knew that they needed to get the next goal before the Ramblers could seize momentum. However, Loyola had other plans. A brief 40 seconds later, junior forward Michael Arkus scored another goal, expanding the Rambler lead to two with just under thirty seconds remaining in the middle period. At that point, the Scouts were just looking to get out of the period with no further damage done. But 22 seconds later, it happened again. Matthew Schauwecker, who assisted Arkus on the last goal, scored with five seconds remaining. Putting it all together, the Loyola Ramblers were able to score three game-deciding goals all under 62 seconds. Now, with a big lead, all the Ramblers had to do was maintain their lead in the 3rd period and not allow the Scouts any chance at making a comeback.

The final period strongly reflected the first period. The Scouts had a couple of chances here and there, as did the Ramblers, but neither team could get the puck past the opposing goaltender until the dire minutes of the game when Loyola forward AJ Cornileson put the finishing touches on the Lake Forest Scouts. When the final horn sounded, Loyola had four goals while the Scouts were still stuck on zero. 

Loyola goaltender Peter Darrigo had a very strong game. Looking beyond the score, the Scouts did have some good scoring chances, but Darrigo blocked them off, allowing his offense to take control of the game.

As for the Scouts, three goals in just over a minute can’t happen. Of course, the players know that. Also, there were some missed opportunities on offense that the Scouts should have had. Overall, this was a rough game that Lake Forest will just need to put behind them. They have still played less than a third of their season and cannot let losses like this dictate their future games.

The Lake Forest Scouts varsity hockey team will look to redeem themselves this Wednesday when they take on the Prairie Ridge Predators. The puck drops at 8:00 pm at Lake Forest College. Come support your Lake Forest Scouts Wednesday as they play a critical matchup against the Predators.