After two consecutive Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) postseason appearances, the St. Catherine University hockey team hoped to start off the 2014-15 season on the right foot against a familiar foe in non-conference play. Unfortunately, the College of Saint Benedict – which opened up its season a week earlier – outlasted the Wildcats and handed them a 4-2 setback in the season opener Friday evening in Princeton, Minnesota.
 
"Being that it was the first game of the year, we knew we would not come out and play a solid 60 minutes," said Head Coach Brad Marshall. "We would play well for stretches and then we would look like we were lost. "
 
In an even back-and-forth game early, the Blazerswere the first to take advantage of a scoring chance when Liz Hermes buried a rebound off a Siri Berg-Moberg shot on Wildcat goalie Sam Geissler (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) for a 1-0 lead they would take into the first intermission.
 
In the second period, the Wildcats came out in control and eventually outshot the Blazers 15-10 en route to a two-goal period. After piling on the shots and failing to capitalize on a 5-on-3 advantage, the Wildcats finally got their special teams going when Maddy Zastrow (Greendale, Wis./Greendale) scored her first collegiate goal on a tip-in from Bailey Rasmussen (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) at 10:33.
 
The Blazers regained the lead less than six minutes later when Stephanie Kirk skated untouched in front of Geissler before beating the senior goalie for her second goal of the season. But the Wildcats weren't giving up just yet. On another golden power play opportunity, Rasmussen tallied her second point of the night on a tip in front off a Karly Nelson (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks) shot from the point less than two minutes after the Blazer goal to even the score at 2-2.
 
Finally, the Blazers regained the lead just 2:40 into the third period on a shot from Elli Marvin. Down 3-2, the Wildcats couldn't find a way to beat Jenna Traut for a third time before giving up an empty net goal with 36 seconds remaining.
 
Geissler recorded 29 saves to anchor the Wildcats in goal, while Megan Killmer (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) tallied two points after recording assists for setting up both power play goals. She also tallied two shots on goal, while Rasmussen led the team with four. Traut finished the game with her first win of the season after stopping 28 of the Wildcats' 30 shots, while Kirk recorded two points to lead the Blazers offensively.
 
"The good thing about college hockey is you get another crack at it 24 hours from now," said Marshall. "This team will learn a lot about what we can expect from each other over the next four weeks."
 
The Wildcats' next shot at a victory comes against UW-Eau Claire Saturday evening in a 7 p.m. non-conference competition in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 

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