LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Beloit College men's hockey team opened its 2026-27 season this evening at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse with a 5-3 loss to Lake Forest. The Buccaneers led 3-2 through two periods before the Foresters scored three times in the final 10 minutes. Beloit is 0-1-0, and Lake Forest improves to 2-1-0.
The Buccaneers took the lead on the power play at 9:12 of the first period. Mario Bernard (Bloomington, MN) scored the first goal of the season, set up by Josh Gulden (New Ulm, MN), to make it 1-0. Lake Forest answered at 15:29 when Jonah Copre scored on a feed from CJ Stice, and the teams went to the break tied 1-1.
Beloit controlled the middle frame, outshooting Lake Forest 15-11 and putting up 22 shot attempts. Will McDonald (Madison, Wis.) gave the Buccaneers a 2-1 lead at 3:45, finishing a pass from Nathan Hinze (Chaska, MN). Lake Forest tied the game 2-2 on a power-play goal from Trevor Faucher at 11:56.
Beloit pulled ahead again at 15:07. Nik Johnson (Minneapolis, MN) scored on the power play, assisted by Landon Adams (St. Paul, MN), for a 3-2 lead heading into the third.
The Buccaneers managed just one shot on goal in the third. Lake Forest took over, scoring three times in a span of three minutes and two seconds. Luke Lizak tied the game 3-3 on the power play at 11:22, after Hinze was called for hooking. Ryan Murphy put the Foresters ahead 4-3 at 13:41 on another power play, this one following an interference penalty on Brody Munnelly. Lizak scored again at 14:24 to make it 5-3.
Beloit called a timeout at 18:06 and twice pulled goalie Anthony Zolezzi (Oswego, IL) for an extra attacker but could not score.
Zolezzi was busy in goal, making 35 saves on 40 shots in 58:38, including 13 in the first period and 12 in the third. Bernard scored the opening goal on the power play, while McDonald scored once and was on the ice for Beloit's go-ahead goal in the second. NikJohnson scored the power-play goal that put Beloit up 3-2 and added three shots on goal.
Hinze assisted on McDonald's goal and went 13-for-26 on faceoffs. Gulden and Adams each had an assist. Zach Hutchinson (West Salem, WI) won 8 of 13 faceoffs (61.5%), and CJ Zaharias (Prairie Grove, IL) led the team with five blocked shots.
Lake Forest outshot Beloit 40-24. Beloit went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Lake Forest went 3-for-6. The Buccaneers had 7 penalties for 14 minutes, compared with 5 penalties for 13 minutes for the Foresters. Beloit won 31 of 63 faceoffs (49.2%).
The Buccaneers are back on the ice on Friday in Milwaukee against the MSOE Raiders. Puck drop from the Kern Center is set for 7 pm. They play at the Woodman's center for the first time this season on Saturday when MSOE comes to town for a 2 pm clash.
