For the last two weeks, nothing has been able to stop the St. Catherine University soccer team from finding a way to produce victories and keep its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) postseason hopes alive. With three wins in a row and two-consecutive conference wins, the Wildcats had a golden opportunity to avenge a 3-0 loss from a year ago against St. Olaf College and close the gap in the conference standings. Thanks to a hard fought battle and a solid goal from Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn./Stillwater), the Wildcats took down the Oles 1-0 on their home field to extend their winning streak Saturday afternoon in St. Paul. 

The Wildcats couldn't have asked for the win to come at a better time – for the first time in program history the Wildcats have posted three-consecutive MIAC wins and the four victories in a row is the longest streak since the team posted four-straight in 2010. With the victory, the Wildcats are now 4-4-1 in the MIAC, remain seventh in the standings just one point behind the Oles and have reached the four-win plateau in MIAC play for just the third time in program history. 

The first half opened up with a competitive back-and-forth between the two teams with very little action toward either goalie. However, Danielle Mendez (Bloomington, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) made two critical saves to keep the game scoreless heading into the second half. 

After the first 45, the Wildcat offense came to life as they began to test Ole keeper Ruth Hesse when Elly Leyva (San Jacinto, Calif./San Jacinto) narrowly missed getting the Wildcats on the board five minutes into the second. 

Finally, the Wildcats broke the tie when OKerstrom gathered in a ball left of Hesse, nearly fell, stutter-stepped to beat the defender and then kicked the ball to the right side for her fourth goal of the season. With her goal, Okerstrom takes over the team lead in goals (4) and points (9). Her three conference goals are also tied for 12th in the MIAC, while her two conference game-winners is tied for fourth. 

Mendez recorded her third-straight shutout in her three-save effort. The junior now has a .83 goals against average (GAA) in conference games that ranks fourth among all MIAC goalies, while her three shutouts in conference games is tied for third. Mendez now has five shutouts on the season and 12 in her career. Leyva led the Wildcats with three shots, while Emily Hutchins-Peterson (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) had two with both making it to Hesse who had three saves for the Oles. 

With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 7-6-1 to match their win total from a year ago. Next up, the Wildcats travel to take on Macalester College Saturday for a 7 p.m. MIAC night matchup in St. Paul. 

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