MIAC Preview

For the third time in five years, the St. Catherine University hockey team has found its way into the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women's Hockey Playoffs. And for the second-straight year, the Wildcats enter as the No. 5 seed facing a team they came up winless against in the regular season.
 
Last year, the Wildcats tied and lost to Bethel University before narrowly falling 3-2 in the MIAC quarterfinal match up. This Friday, the Wildcats will head back to Moorhead, Minn., to take on a Concordia College squad that shutout them out twice in the final weekend of the regular season.
 
Since clinching a postseason berth on Feb. 14 with a 4-0 win over St. Olaf College, the Wildcats have lost three-straight games against conference opponents and recorded just one goal. Combine that with an average of scoring just 1.80 goals per game and the task of facing one of two possible goalies – both  who rank in the top three in multiple MIAC categories – the odds don't seem to be in the favor of the Wildcats.
 
In goal, the Cobbers have the choice between Alison Klug – who ranks at the top of the conference with a .958 save percentage and a 1.00 goals against average (GAA) – or Madison Denny who ranks third with a .934 percentage and 1.50 GAA against conference opponents. Each Cobber goalie picked up a win against the Wildcats last weekend as they held the offense scoreless.
 
But don't count the Wildcats out just yet. Despite low scoring this season, the Wildcats reached eight MIAC wins thanks to a balanced offensive attack. Four players boast double-digits in point scoring and six have at least four goals a piece.
 
At the top of the scoring list for the Wildcats is Bailey Rasmussen (Grand Rapids, Minn.) who was the top goal-scorer from a year ago. This year, Rasmussen has tallied a team-high 11 points and eight goals. She ranks 12th in MIAC games for goals scored (7) and has proven to be most effective in clutch situations. Her five game-winning goals – four of which have come in conference wins – rank first in the MIAC and are already third most all-time at St. Kate's for a single season. Rasmussen has also tallied four power play goals against conference opponents, which is tied for the most in the MIAC.
 
The Wildcats have also collected 10 points this season from 2012-13 All-MIAC selection Megan Killmer (Savage, Minn.) and Honorable Mention Annie Buttermore (Mahtomedi, Minn.), as well as first-year Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn.). Killmer has come alive as of late, tallying her first collegiate hat trick to help the Wildcats clinch a playoff spot with a win over St. Olaf. Both she and Buttermore have scored four goals and six assists, proving to be a dangerous pairing for the Wildcats. Okerstrom is fourth on the team in goals (5) and ranks No. 11 among all MIAC first-year players in scoring.
 
Both Randi Fabsits (Tinley Park, Ill.) and Mallory Ryan (Cottage Grove, Minn.) have proven to be valuable not only for their defensive skills, but also as catalysts for offensive production. Fabsits leads the team in assists with seven and ranks 11th among all defense in scoring, while Ryan has two goals and five assists and ranks 14th among MIAC defense.
 
In goal, Alex Hall (Burnsville, Minn.) and Samantha Geissler (Elk River, Minn.) have split duties this year with Hall coming up with six wins while Geissler has totaled five. Hall boasts an impressive .925 save percentage in goal – which ranks fifth in the MIAC – while Geissler is just behind with a .919 mark.
 
Whichever goalie gets the starting nod for the Wildcats will have her work cut out for her against a balanced Cobber offense that boasts three players with double-digit point totals. Junior Madison Gendreau leads the Cobbers with 15 points, while Bri Flynn has 14 points for the fifth-highest total among all first-year players. Flynn's 10 goals this season also ranks ninth-most in the MIAC. Libby Fransdal – who is also an All-Region soccer player at Concordia – has helped ignite the Cobber offense with 10 assists this season which ranks third-most among all MIAC defense.
 
The big MIAC matchup is set for Friday at 5 p.m. in Moorhead, Minn. Live stats will be available for the game and additional information and playoff brackets can be found on the MIAC playoffs site. 

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