LINCOLNWOOD, Ill.–Saturday night the Lake Forest Scouts varsity hockey team was hungry for revenge against Loyola Academy after getting shut out at home 4-0 by the Ramblers in mid-November. In the Scouts most recent game against D211, their offense had a very strong showing, scoring more than five goals in the contest. They looked to pick up where they left off against a decent but beatable Loyola team.
Defense was really the story of the game. After the Ramblers scored an early goal, the Scouts managed to adjust, but weren’t strong enough on offense to come out on top at the end of the game.
The first goal of the game came only two minutes into the contest. Alec Piatigorsky was able to get one by Scouts goaltender Colson Stutz on an assist from Cole Corrigan making a statement early in the game. With a quick goal, the game was shaping to look like a potential high-scoring affair, however, that was not the case. Both teams went back in forth for the rest of the period, but nobody could score before the horn buzzed signifying the end of the period. The Scouts knew they needed to come out firing at the beginning of the second period in order to stay in the game.
The start of the second period was quite similar to the final 13 minutes of the first. Lake Forest managed to generate a few chances, but Loyola goaltender Max Raynal fended off all of the Scouts shots except for one. With 3:29 remaining in the period, Trevor Allen scored on an assist from William Dee tying the game at 1. Now backed by momentum, Lake Forest looked to take command of the contest, but the Ramblers had an answer. With just 24 seconds left in the period, Michael Arkus scored an unassisted goal. Just like that Loyola was back in front and was closing in on sweeping the Scouts in the 2017-18 season.
In the third and final period, Lake Forest gave it all they had to tie the game. The held the Ramblers to only thee shots on goal, while Raynal had to stop 12 Scouts opportunities. Lake Forest’s resilient effort ended up falling just short in the end. Loyola finished the game with one goal more than the Scouts did, resulting in yet another crushing defeat for the Scouts.
The Lake Forest Scouts varsity hockey team did well limiting their mistakes in the contest. Loyola was just a better team on Saturday. Max Raynal has been fantastic against the Scouts. In their last meeting, he completed a shutout and on Saturday he had another fantastic performance, only allowing one goal. Lake Forest’s defense showed an immense improvement–especially in the final period–which is very promising. The Scouts next game will be against D155 on the road next Wednesday. Despite losing, Lake Forest put up a great fight and is improving every game.
