After suffering a tough loss to the College of Saint Benedict despite stronger play from the team's leaders, the St. Catherine University hockey team hoped it could rebound for game two of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series for a much needed win. Despite outshooting the Blazers for the second night in a row, the Wildcats settled for its second tie in as many weekends with a 1-1 decision Saturday at the Municipal Athletic complex in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
"We really had chances to win at the end," said Head Coach
Brad Marshall. "These players are working through the unlucky bounces, the goals we score that haven't counted and inconsistent calls. It was nice to see their reaction today. They haven't quit."
After two scoreless periods of hockey and a slight advantage in shots going the way of the Blazers, the third period was hard-fought and the Blazers finally broke the tie scoring the first goal for the second game in a row. In unusual fashion, the Wildcats gave up a power play goal again to the Blazers – this time to Brigette Miller on a pass from Hannah Esselman at the 10:20 mark of the third period.
With time running out, the Wildcats finally evened the score at 1-1 when
Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn./Thief River Falls) beat Jenna Traut on a set up from
Megan Killmer at 16:30. Despite several scoring opportunities at the end of the period, the Wildcats were forced to overtime with the Blazers and began the extra minutes a player down. Unfortunately, neither team could find the net and the Wildcats were held to just one goal for the third game in a row.
In goal for the Wildcats,
Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) stopped 20 Blazer shots on goal for her third tie of the season. She currently leads the team and the MIAC in both goals against average (1.13) and save percentage (.955). With the lone Wildcat goal, Solheim now leads the team with five goals and eight points. Killmer's assist was good enough for a two-point weekend and brings her to the team lead in points with eight.
Solheim and Killmer each recorded four shots on goal, while
Bailey Rasmussen (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) and
Randi Fabsits (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) each tallied four shots on goal.
With the tie, the Wildcats move to 4-8-4 on the season and 2-5-3 in the MIAC. They return to conference action next Friday against Bethel University for a 7:30 p.m. contest at Drake Arena.
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