Last week proved to be the best yet this season for the St. Catherine University soccer team as it shutout both its opponents for the week to start a two-game winning streak. Most importantly, the Wildcats kept their playoff hopes alive with a 2-0 win over Saint Mary's University Saturday and moved to seventh in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings. All of this was possible thanks to the huge play of Ellen Kokes (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) who has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week.Â
After spending her first two seasons as a Wildcat in a defensive role, Kokes has become a dynamic part of the Wildcat offense in moving to forward in recent weeks. Wednesday, in a dominant 4-0 non-conference win over Simpson College, Kokes was crucial to getting the team back on the winning track. She picked up an assist on the second goal of the game before adding her own unassisted tally to lead the team offensively. The junior also collected a team-high four shots in the win over the Storm.Â
In a must-win matchup with the Cardinals, Kokes helped the Wildcats get on the board early when she laid off a pass for teammate Hannah Brown (Burnsville, Minn./Lakeville South) for her second assist of the week. Then, Kokes helped the Wildcats add some security to their lead just 10 minutes later when she collected her second goal of the week.Â
With her two goals last week, Kokes ties the team lead for goals this season with three and takes over the team lead in points with eight. Prior to this season, Kokes had tallied just one assist in each of her two previous campaigns.
The Wildcats improve to 5-6-1 on the season and 2-4 in the MIAC with the two victories this week. Kokes and the rest of the squad return to conference action Tuesday as they travel to St. Peter, Minnesota, to take on Gustavus Adolphus College at 4 p.m.Â
