Box Score
After a strong start to the season, the St. Catherine University soccer team had been on a downward slide in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play as of recently. The Wildcats had a 2-4-0 MIAC record heading into Saturday's home contest against Saint Mary's and needed a win to keep any playoff hopes alive.
 
Despite cold, rainy conditions, the Wildcats found a way to come up with a huge 2-0 win over the Cardinals to improve to 3-4-0 in conference play and 8-5-0 overall.
 
“Today was a good team performance,” said Head Coach Chris Citowicki after the win. “There were a handful of things we worked on since our last game and it was nice to see it all come together. Saint Mary's worked hard and never let up. We had to stay focused and the ladies did just that.”
 
The Wildcats got on the board early thanks to a corner kick by Liesl Wolf (Minnetonka, Minn.) that was headed in by Sarah Anderson (Marshalltown, Iowa) for her first goal of the season, just over five minutes into the game.
 
After taking a 1-0 lead into halftime, the Wildcats got an insurance goal from the same defensive duo as the first half. Anderson buried her second goal of the game and the season at the 64:42 mark as she took a pass from Wolf off a free kick.
 
Wolf's two assists bring her season total to six and ranks fifth-most in the MIAC. The senior defender is now fourth on the team in points (8), while Anderson leaps into fifth with her four-point performance against Saint Mary's.
 
Goalkeeper Danielle Mendez (Bloomington, Minn.) earned her seventh win and fourth shutout of the season. She stopped all four Cardinal shots on goal and made several key defensive stops to keep the Wildcats ahead.
 
The Wildcats held a huge shooting advantage over Saint Mary's as they outshot their opponent 18-8 and recorded 10 shots on goal. The advantage in corner kicks also went to the Wildcats (8-4).
 
With just four conference games remaining, the Wildcats enter an important contest against Concordia on Wednesday at 4 p.m., in Moorhead, Minn.
 
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