Notables
- The only two CSS penalties came less than two minutes apart in the third period
- Sawyer has scored a goal in five straight games
- CSS held the Foresters to three shots in second period
- Griffith recorded both goals for Lake Forest

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (csssaints.com) - The St. Scholastica women's hockey team suffered a 2-1 loss in the first matchup of the two-game series against No. 7 Lake Forest College (Ill.) on Friday evening in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Slaats Cup Semifinals.

The Action
Lake Forest led the way in the first period, outshooting the Saints 12-7. The Foresters got the first point on the board early in the game, with a Kayla Griffith goal after only 4:08 had been played. The entire first period passed without a single penalty and only saw the one goal by the Foresters. 

The second period was owned by the Saints, though Lake Forest made them work for it. Halfway through the period, a hooking penalty put one of the Foresters in the box and gave the Saints a one skater advantage, but they were unable to make it count. With less than a minute left in the period, when the Foresters looked to be on their way to the third period with the lead, Abby Sawyer (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna HS) tied it up at 1-1 for the Saints, with the assist going to Sierra Hanowski (Warroad, Minn./Warroad HS), which gave the Saints some momentum as they headed into the locker room for the second intermission. The Saints held the Foresters to just three shots on goal over the course of the second period, while CSS managed to hit eight. 

Unfortunately for the Saints, the momentum would not carry them through the third period. After five minutes of play, a cross check by CSS put one skater in the box, then another penalty on the Saints during the power play added a second player to the box, putting the Foresters up by two skaters. It did not take Lake Forest long to take advantage of the two extra skaters, and Griffith netted her second goal of the game to retake the lead with 13 minutes left in the game. The Saints failed to use two power plays in the remaining minutes of the game. With 1:06 left on the clock, the Saints goaltender hit the bench to put an extra woman on the ice, but the 2-1 score wouldn't change as time expired.

Goaltending
Freshman Lexi Thomeczek (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph Academy (St. Louis AAA Blues)) was between the pipes for CSS, saving 28 of the 30 shots she faced during the game. Jacque Rogers, also a freshman, was in the net for the Foresters, and she made 20 saves.

Up Next
The Saints face Lake Forest again tomorrow with puck drop set at 7 p.m. If the Saints win, effectively splitting the four possible points of the series, a 20 minute mini-game will be played immediately following game two. Sudden death overtime will determine the winner if the score is tied after 20 minutes.