University of West Alabama

After suffering a 6-1 loss to Bethel University Friday evening, the St. Catherine University rebounded with a huge defensive team effort Saturday to shut down four of the league's top scorers for a 2-0 Minensota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win Saturday night. No player stood out more, though, than goalie Samantha Geissler (Elk River, Minn.). For her efforts, she has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week. 

Geissler helped the Wildcats to victory Saturday with a 19-save effort in net for her second-straight shutout win  – she also shut out the College of Saint Benedict on Jan. 25 in the Wildcats' 4-0 win. Against the Royals, Geissler made several impressive saves to slow down a quad of Bethel players who lead the MIAC in scoring and combined for all six goals and nine points Friday evening. 

With her shutout, Geissler now has five wins on the season  –  all of which have come against MIAC opponents. Her .714 winning percentage ranks second in the MIAC (.833 in MIAC games). She also has a .929 save percentage which ranks fourth in the MIAC and her 1.85 goals against average is fourth-best among all goalies in the conference. 

Geissler and Wildcats will take on defending MIAC regular season and playoff champion Gustavus Adolphus College  –  a team that suffered their first conference loss in 30 games in a series sweep by Saint Benedict this weekend  – in a two game series this weekend. Puck drop of game one is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night in St. Peter, Minn. Game two will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Drake Arena.