The Forester women's hockey team began a weekend series at the University of Dubuque with a 3-1 victory Friday afternoon.

The Spartans had scored the only goal of the contest through two periods, striking with just 23.7 seconds remaining in the second.

Lake Forest tied the score when junior forward Ella Maher netted her team-high seventh goal of the year at the 1:45 mark of the third and final period. On the play several Foresters attempted shots that were saved or blocked until the puck came out to Maher, who spun and fired it in from between the circles. Freshman forwards Alex Luke and Sophie Smith were credited with assists.

The official game-winner came off the stick of another freshman forward, Gracia Muñoz, less than two minutes later. She gained control of the puck in the left circle and side-stepped a Spartan on her way to the goal. Her shot slipped past past the goalie and into the right side of the net to put the visitors on top. Freshman forward Haley Hunter assisted on the fourth of the year and third in as many games for Muñoz. It was also her first career game-winning goal.

The Lake Forest advantage doubled at the 5:47 mark when junior forward Jasmine Kohl tied Maher for the team lead in goals. She took a pass through the neutral zone from senior defenseman Kate Brennan and sped around the Dubuque defenseman before beating the goaltender stick-side for the score. Freshman defenseman Delaney Zerfass joined Brennan in assisting on the score and raising the number of Foresters with a point in the contest to eight.

Freshman goaltender Lily Peterfeso turned away the Spartans' first 16 shots and finished the day with 23 saves. She improved to 5-4-0 with a 1.90 goals against average and .939 save percentage on the season.

The victory evened Lake Forest's overall record at 10-10-0 and the team improved to 8-6-0 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play. Dubuque fell to 2-18-0 overall and 1-12-0 in the league.

The same two teams will face off again at Dubuque Saturday afternoon at 2:00.