St. Catherine University junior Kayla Clafton has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week. Clafton earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Holiday Classic in Vermont to open the new year, and she brought that magic back to Minnesota by scoring the game-winner Saturday at Hamline in a non-conference win over the Pipers. For her recent performances, Clafton has also been named 2011’s first MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week.
In the Wildcats 4-2 win over St. Michael's College in VT, SCU got an assist and the eventual game-winning goal from Clafton in the second period to storm back from the two-goal deficit. Clafton’s clutch play continued Saturday when she found the back of the net with just 1:15 remaining to break a 2-2 tie and hand the Pipers a 3-2 non-conference loss. This season, Clafton has three goals and four assists for a total of seven points. She ranks third in the MIAC in both defensemen scoring and game-winning goals.
