ST. PAUL, MINN – The St. Catherine University soccer team made an impression in its second consecutive trip to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) postseason tournament. The Wildcats provided plenty of drama in their opening round shootout victory over Gustavus Adolphus College to advance to the second round of the postseason tournament for the first time in program history. Key to St. Kate’s success was junior goaltender Jessica Perez-Adame (San Jacinto, Calif. / San Jacinto), who has been named Wildcat Athlete of the Week.
The Wildcats advancing to take on St. Thomas in the second round of the MIAC playoffs would not have been possible without Perez-Adame. While the junior goalkeeper did see her shutout streak end in the 52nd minute of the game, Perez-Adame was a wall in net for St. Kate’s, surrendering just one goal to the Gusties while making six saves in 110 minutes of play.
However, with the game knotted 1-1 after 90 minutes of regulation time and 20 extra minutes of overtime play, the Wildcats needed Perez-Adame more than ever. St. Kate’s and Gustavus needed a shootout round to determine who would advance and play the Tommies in the semifinal round of the playoffs. Thanks to Perez-Adame’s hands and powerful right foot, it was the Wildcats who won the decisive shootout, not the Gusties. The junior made two big saves against Gustavus’ top shooters and hit the game clinching shot to seal St. Kate’s 3-1 shootout victory and help the team advance to the semifinals of the MIAC tournament for the first time in program history.
Although the Wildcats season came to an end the next day, Perez-Adame did everything in her power to prevent it from happening, with five saves in 90 minutes against St. Thomas. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as the Wildcats eventually fell to the top-ranked Tommies, ending their magnificent run in the MIAC Tournament.
