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The situation for the St. Catherine University hockey team was all too familiar. Win, and you're in.
 
After being snubbed from a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoff bid by St. Olaf College last season, the Wildcats were poised for revenge in their final game of the 2012-13 regular season.
 
The Wildcat hockey team turned the table on St. Olaf when they found a little bit of magic with two power play goals for a spectacular 3-2 win to stamp their ticket to the MIAC playoffs Saturday afternoon at Drake Arena in St. Paul.
 
“We talked before the game how important special teams will be today and why it's important to practice them so much during the week,” said Head Coach Brad Marshall whose squad will enter postseason play for the first time since 2009-10 when the Wildcats finished second in the standings and made it to the championship game against Gustavus Adolphus College.
 
“Hallie Paschke (New Prague, Minn.) had that huge goal for us at the end; it's been awhile since she's scored for us. It was nice that we got contributions from different people all weekend – from our goalie, to our defense making big plays and all our forwards.”
 
In front of a packed crowd for senior day, the Wildcats rode the strong play of goalie Alex Hall (Burnsville, Minn.) who stopped 35 Ole shots to clinch the No. 5 spot in the MIAC playoffs where they will face No. 4 seed Bethel University on Tuesday.
 
After taking down the Oles on the road Friday night 6-2, the Wildcats hoped to come out with that same momentum in game two of the series. But early on it appeared the Oles had the upper hand as they outshot the Wildcats in the first period and got on the board first when Margot Fleming buried a rebound off a Nicole Stumpf shot at the 7:19 mark.
 
Going into the second period down 1-0, the Wildcats came out strong and appeared to even things up early on a tip in by Kasey Evans (Burnsville, Minn.) before the goal was disallowed on a high sticking call.
 
The Wildcats wouldn't quit, though, and bounced back when Bailey Rasmussen (Grand Rapids, Minn.) perfectly tipped in a Becky Clifton (Imperial, Mo.) shot to score a power play goal to even the score at one a side just eight seconds into the man-advantage.
 
The tension would continue to build into the third period before the Oles broke the 1-1 tie on a power play tally from Devyn Hotho to give her team the go ahead goal at the 6:39 mark.
 
There was no quit in the Wildcats as they responded just past the half way mark of the third when Zoe Verkerke (Menominee, Mich.) blasted a big shot on St. Olaf goalie Sam Ubl and beat her on a second-chance rebound opportunity to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Even though the Wildcats could have made the playoffs with a tie, they proved that a tie just wasn't going to be good enough. Having scored just one goal all season, Paschke was long over due and became the Wildcat hero when she put in a loose puck on a late power play opportunity to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead with less than four to play.
 
Hall then made five huge saves in the final three minutes to seal up the victory and the Wildcat playoff berth.

Megan Killmer (Savage, Minn.) completed her two-point weekend with an assist on Rasmussen's goal, while Annie Buttermore (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Maureen Ryan (St. Paul, Minn.) each picked up an assist on Paschke's game-winner.
 
With the victory, the Wildcats finish the regular season 11-11-3 overall and an 8-7-3 MIAC record. The Wildcats – who are now riding a three-game winning streak  heading into postseason play – will travel to the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, Minn., to take on the Royals Tuesday. Game time is scheduled for 7p.m.
 
The winner of Tuesday's game will take on undefeated Gustavus squad on Thursday in St. Peter, Minn. Playoff information including admission prices can be found on the MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs page.
 
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