The Lake Forest College men's hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie before winning the decisive shootout 2-0 against the University of Dubuque at home on Saturday.

The Foresters' Colin Bella started the scoring with a power play goal less than two and a half minutes into the contest. He took a pass from fellow senior forward Philip Quetel above the left circle, avoided a Spartan on his way toward the goal, and then fired a shot past the goal to give the home team the early lead. Half of Bella's 12 goals this season have come on the power play, including two this weekend, and his 16 career power play goals are just one shy of the program record.

It was Lake Forest's Alumni Day and the program's Peter Taylor Award for 2026 was presented to senior defenseman Andrew Nieusma during an on-ice ceremony during the first intermission. Six previous recipients were on hand to help present the award.

Lake Forest's lead doubled at the 8:26 mark of the second period when sophomore forward Johnny Mead struck for the fourth time this season. The play started with senior forward Chase Freiermuth stealing the puck from a Dubuque defenseman. He was surrounded by three Spartans as he moved in from the right side but was able to find Mead coming from the left. Mead's shot found the back of the net and the home team was ahead 2-0.

Forester freshman goaltender Luke Szyszka stopped the first 28 shots on goal he faced from the Spartans before they finally got on the scoreboard at 13:25 in the third. The visitors pulled their goalie late and the move paid off when they tied the score with just 30.7 seconds on the clock.

Szyszka made four saves in the overtime period to finish with a season-high 38 on the evening. He was also 2-for-2 in the shootout.

Junior forward Hayden Riva converted in the first round of the shootout and, after the second consecutive Spartan failed to get the puck past Szyszka, freshman forward Christopher O'Flaherty was also successful and the contest was over.

The tie gave Lake Forest a 5-14-2 overall record and a mark of 5-8-2 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play. Dubuque is now 4-15-2 overall and 1-11-2 in the league.

The Foresters, who clinched a spot in the league's Harris Cup Playoffs, will travel to St. Norbert College next weekend to take on the Green Knights Friday night at 7:00 and Saturday at 4:00 p.m.