Lake Forest College Sports Information
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID 2005-06 Preview: Different Players...Same Goals Although nine member of his team will graduate before the 2005-06 season, Head Coach Tony Fritz does not expect a drop-off in performance. “I’m looking forward to next year and all the challenges that come with replacing so many seniors,” he explains. “Our plan is to continue climbing the league standings and to make more of a name for ourselves at the national level.” Lake Forest was ranked as high as #4 in the country during the 2003-04 season and played more than one-third of its games against nationally-ranked teams last year. One reason for Fritz’s optimism about the future is that Honorable Mention All-NCHA selection Tyler Canal, the team’s leading scorer each of the last two seasons, still has two more years ahead of him. Canal has scored 30 goals and added 40 assists in his career and leads the team in plus/minus over that span. The Foresters will also welcome back forwards Tyler Steen, Greg Ihnken, Troy Lother, and Cory Wilson, who all ranked among the team’s top five in goals or assists last season and will provide quality leadership for next year’s freshmen. The strength of the 2005-06 Foresters should be a solid group of returning defensemen, led by Bryan Lafevor, who led that unit in both assists and points last year. Matt Forsyth, who posted the team’s highest plus/minus rating as a freshman in 2003-04, should be healthy after an injury-plagued sophomore campaign. Jordan Kniaziew and Kevin Russette are also proven veterans who make the goaltender’s job much easier. “The nucleus of a very good team exists,” comments Fritz. “If we can add just a few talented newcomers, we’ll have an opportunity to pick up where we left off late last season when we were playing as well as almost anyone in the country.” “Our plan is to continue climbing the league standings and to make more of a name for ourselves at the national level.”
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