After suffering a tough series sweep to Augsburg College, the St. Catherine University hockey team hoped to return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play and pick up a set of wins before the holiday break.The Wildcats took careof business on the first night of a two-game conference series as they used strong special teams play to defeat Saint Mary's University 2-1 Friday evening at Drake Arena in St. Paul.
"I thought we played really well for about 45 to 50 minutes out of the 60," said Head Coach
Brad Marshall. "Our power play continues to do well and our penalty kill got a really good test at the end of the game. (The Cardinals) had us on the ropes and almost turned the table on us. The defense played well contributing in the offensice end and helping out
Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis./Chequamegon) in front."
Pechacek recorded her first collegiate victory in goal for the Wildcats with a 32-save effort thanks to some help from a defense that killed off two power play opportunities for the Cardinals. The Wildcats are the only team in the MIAC that has yet to surrender a power play.
And thanks to
Bailey Rasmussen (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) and
Mallory Ryan (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park), the Wildcats' power play continues to be the tops in the league with a 27.6 conversion rate. Rasmussen scored her third goal of the season – all of which have come on the power play – on a tip in off a shot from Ryan at the 12:13 mark of second period to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead they would never surrender despite allowing the Cardinals to outshoot them 14-3 in the final period.
After a scoreless first period, Ryan got the Wildcats on the board early in the period when she buried a huge rebound off a
Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn./Thief River Falls) shot just 22 seconds into the second period in a 4-on-4 situation. The Cardinals responded less than four minutes later with a goal from Jamie Henderson to even the score back at one a piece, before Rasmussen found the game winner.
Ryan recorded her first multi-point game of the season to bring her season total to three points, while Rasmussen's goal brings her to five points on the season which ranks second on the team. Solheim's assist was her third of the season and also puts her at three points on the season. Rasmussen and
Megan Killmer (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) led the Wildcat offense with four shots on goal each, while
Annie Buttermore (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) had three.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 3-3-1 on the season and 2-2-1 on the season. The Wildcats return to action Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. contest against the Cardinals in Winona, Minnesota.
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