Box score

Fresh off their 4-3 overtime win last Saturday at then-No. 4 Wis.-River Falls, the Saints certainly expected to breeze through Friday night's game against last place Lake Forest College in the conference match-up at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth.

St. Scholastica out shot the Foresters 50-21 in the penalty-marred game, but it was the visitors playing their last NCHA game against the Saints before leaving the conference for the MCHA next season that found the back of the net and skated away with the unlikely win.

The Saints (8-121-2, 3-6-1 NCHA) pounded away at Lake Forest (3-17-1, 1-9-0) netminder Scott Campbell but never got one past the 6-foot-3-inch goalie who, at times, played like a boxer when the Saints swarmed around his net.

With a shots advantage that doubled the Forester's, it was the Saints that made the first mistake of the game when Lake Forest got a 2-on-1 break into the St. Scholastica zone and Blake O'Keefe skated in on Saints goalie Tyler Johnson (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks HS)'s left, slid a perfect last-second pass to Adam Love on Johnson's right where Love was able to sneak the puck just inside the post for a 1-0 Forester lead.

By the time the third period began the Saints held a 31 to 15 advantage in shots. And throughout most of the final stanza St. Scholastica played like they were on the power play, eventually out shooting their guests 19 to 6 over the final 20 minutes.

With time winding down and the Forester's clinging to their one goal lead, the Saints were desparate to pull Johnson for an extra attacker. Unfortunately Trevor Geiger (Salmon Arm, British Columbia/Salmon Arm (BCHL)) was whistled for holding with 2:02 to play, delaying the Johnson move.

Still, the Saints have scored six short-handed goals this season. In fact, it was Geiger that pulled one out at Lake Forest earlier in the season with less than two minutes remaining in the game, giving the Saints the 2-1 victory.

This time, however, it was the team with the man advantage that notched the goal as Blake O'Keefe took a pass from Peter Pfeffer on the fly skating through the neutral zone, skated in with a breakaway on Johnson and with a second effort on his shot nudged the puck under a pad into the bottom right corner for a 2-0 lead with 56 seconds on the clock.

As for the penalties, there were 13 called on Lake Forest and eight on the Saints. Three separate times coincidental roughing penalties were called within the second period.

It doesn't get any easier for the Saints as they welcome No. 2 St. Norbert College to Mars Lakeview on Saturday night. The Green Knights are coming off a 1-1 overtime tie at Wis.-Superior on Friday night.