The Forester men's hockey team was defeated 7-4 by St. Olaf College at home in Saturday's weekend series opener.

Lake Forest had a brief lead early in the contest after senior forward Justin Ross struck at the 6:20 mark of the first period. His shot from the right side of the net was saved but the puck came out to freshman forward Sammy Mielock, who crossed it to the left side, where Ross had quickly positioned himself for another opportunity to put the Foresters on top. His second shot turned out to be his third goal of the season. Mielock earned his first career point with an assist on the play, as did fellow freshman forward Will Brown.

St. Olaf, however, tied the score just 66 seconds later and took a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the first intermission after striking again at 12:24.

The teams combined for six power play opportunities in the second period and four of them resulted in goals, the first by Forester sophomore forward Max Jaldung just 33 seconds in. His shot from the top of the right circle flew past the goalie and just inside the left post for his sixth goal of the year.

The Oles regained the lead at the 4:49 mark and then tacked on a pair of power play goals in the next three-plus minutes to make the score 5-2.

Lake Forest would not go away, however, as senior forward Colin Bella netted the 13th power play goal of his career at the 14:04 mark and Brown scored his first collegiate goal of any kind with 20 seconds on the clock. Bella leads the team with seven scores this season and only four Foresters since 1996 have converted more power play opportunities in their careers than him.

The home team's comeback bid took a hit when the Oles scored yet another power play goal at 6:33 in the final period and they added an empty net goal late to secure the victory.

The loss dropped the Foresters' overall record on the season to 3-5-1 while St. Olaf improved to 5-2-2. The teams will face off again in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon at 3:00.