The Forester women's hockey team defeated visiting Concordia University Wisconsin 3-1 Friday night in the opener of the teams' Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Clup quarterfinal series.

The only goal of the first period came off the stick of freshman forward Victoria Liu with the home team on the power play at the 8:10 mark. She was there to put in the rebound when junior defenseman Abby Meyer's shot from the top of the right circle was saved by the Falcon goaltender. Freshman forward Ella Maher was also credited with an assist on the play.

The Forester lead doubled midway through the second period when senior forward Danielle Selby came in from the left wall, avoided three Falcons, and slipped a shot inside the left post for her second score of the season. Maher and freshman defenseman Annika Sankner assisted on what turned out to be Selby's third career game-winning goal.

Lake Forest junior goaltender Angie Lombardi kept Concordia Wisconsin off the scoreboard until the 15:41 mark of the second. The power play goal proved to be the visitors' only tally of the evening as Lombardi turned away 26 of their 27 shots on goal for a .963 save percentage.

The score remained 2-1 until sophomore forward Macy Gehrke fired a shot into an empty net with 19.9 seconds remaining in the contest.

Lake Forest improved to 14-12-0 this season while Concordia Wisconsin fell to 11-12-3. The teams will face off again in game two of the series Saturday afternoon at 3:00, when a tie or a victory for the Foresters would send them to the semifinals of the NCHA Slaats Cup Playoffs. The Falcons need to win game two of the series and take the decisive 20-minute minigame that would follow to extend their season.

The Slaats Cup is named after current Lake Forest College Vice President for Athletics Jackie Slaats, a major contributor to the formation of the conference during her tenure as the Foresters' athletic director.