Box Score After a tough second-half loss to Hamline University Saturday, the St. Catherine University soccer team hoped to pick up its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win of the season against a Carleton College squad that boasted a perfect 3-0 league record entering Wednesday's contest.
 
The Wildcats showed their ability to rebound and managed to pull off an upset against the Knights for the second-straight season – this time at home by a score of 3-2 – Wednesday afternoon in St. Paul.
 
"It was a great performance from the team," said Head Coach Chris Citowicki. "We bounced back from the Hamline game and showed just how good we can be. What impresses me most is the perseverance we displayed; we kept bouncing back and scoring goals."
 
The Wildcat offense – which had previously scored just three goals in the last five games – came to life against the Knights with the dominating play of forwards Lensa Gurmessa (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Nina Bukowski (Two Harbors, Minn.). Both used multi-point performances to bring their season point totals to 13 and 10, respectively. This was also Gurmessa's second two-goal game and third multi-point game of the season.
 
Bukowski got the Wildcats on the board first when she buried a serve from fellow junior Jennifer Goetz (Minneapolis, Minn.) in the 17th minute, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead they would keep until halftime. The goal was Bukowski's third scored in the last four games. She also led the Wildcats with a total of five shots in the game.
 
The Knights rebounded quickly, though, when Arielle Koschkin headed in a goal off a corner kick less than a minute in to the second half to even the score.
 
Less than five minutes later, Gurmessa netted her first goal of the game when she floated a ball just under the cross bar off a serve from Elly Leyva (San Jacinto, Calif.) to take back the lead for the Wildcats.
 
In the 68th minute, Carleton found an equalizer when Megan King just beat Wildcat goalkeeper Danielle Mendez (Bloomington, Minn.) to the right side to event the score at 2-2.
 
But as they had all game, the Wildcats responded immediately to take back the lead for good. Just over two minutes after the Knights' goal, Bukowski tapped a pass over to Gurmessa who buried a shot to the right corner for her first game-winner of the season.
 
Mendez picked up her fourth win of the season in goal after posting five saves against the Knights.
 
With the win, the Wildcats move to 5-4 on the season and 1-2 in MIAC play before returning to action Saturday against a surprising, league-leading Augsburg College squad. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start under the lights at Edor Nelson Field at 7 p.m. in Minneapolis, Minn.
 
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