Vikings punch ticket to playoffs with win over Lake Forest

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University scored three times in the third period to power past Lake Forest College 6-3 in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

The win in the regular-season finale gave Lawrence a berth in the NCHA playoffs. The Vikings will play at St. Scholastica on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

The game was tied 3-3 heading to the third period, but the Vikings struck early. Rookie forward Nick Felan hammered in a rebound just 1:21 into the period to put the Vikings up 4-3.

After killing off a pair of penalties, Lawrence expanded its lead when Sean Reynolds scored off a rebound at the 12:34 mark for a 5-3 advantage.

The Foresters then pulled goalie Leo Podolsky with just under three minutes left, but Matt Montemurro sealed the win for Lawrence with a short-handed empty-net goal with 1:01 remaining.

Mattias Soderqvist stopped 40 shots to pick up the win for the Vikings (9-13-3, 8-9-3 NCHA). Podolsky made 47 saves for Lake Forest (10-15-0, 8-12-0).

Lake Forest grabbed the early lead on Ian Pichel’s goal with 3:31 left in the first period. The Vikings tied it when Felan raced through the Lake Forest defense and scored on the power play with 1:14 left in the opening period.

In a wild flurry early in the second period both team scored twice. Charlie Izaguirre and Davis DeKorte scored in a span of just 27 seconds to put Lake Forest up 3-1.

The Vikings struck back just as quickly as Steve Hughes and Renato Engler scored at the 3:34 and 3:58 mark to tie the game at 3-3.

Lawrence went 1-for-4 on the power play, and the Foresters were 0-for-7.

Box score