The St. Catherine University hockey team picked up a much needed shutout victory over St. Olaf College Friday night and hope to complete its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) sweep of the season on home ice the next day. Thanks to a two-goal performance from
Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn./
Thief River Falls) in the second period, the Wildcats completed the sweep of the Oles with a 5-2 win Saturday at Drake Arena in St. Paul.
"Things got interesting in the second," said Head Coach
Brad Marshall, "but after the timeout we started playing our system and Solheim kind of took over. All of our goals were really good plays."
After a scoreless first period Friday night, the Wildcats didn't waste much time in taking a lead Saturday as
Shelby Salmonsen (Faribault, Minn./Faribault) beat Cassie Alexander at the 10:56 mark for her first goal of the season on a breakaway opportunity thanks to a setup from
Megan Killmer (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) and
Mallory Ryan (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) deep in the Wildcats' defensive zone.
Six minutes later,
Randi Fabsits (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) beat Alexander on a shot through traffic on the point with an assist from
Alex Pederson (Park Rapids, Minn./Park Rapids) to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. However, the Oles responded with just 1:45 to play in the period when Sara Lind beat
Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) on a loose puck in front.
Down just 2-1 after the first, the Oles weren't ready to give up just yet and found themselves tied 2-2 just 8:10 into the second when Lind netted her second of the game to put the Wildcats back on their heels.
After a timeout from Head Coach
Brad Marshall, the Wildcats picked up the intensity and just 1:41 later, Solheim was all alone in front of Alexander when she accepted a pass from Fabsits in the corner and blasted a shot past Alexander for her second game-winner of the season. But Solheim wasn't done yet. Just 22 seconds later, she beat Alexander on a set up from Killmer in the neutral zone to give the Wildcats a 4-2 lead they would carry into the third period.
Like Friday night, the Oles pulled the goalie with just under five minutes to play for a chance at sparking a comeback. However, the Wildcats capitalized again when Peterson picked up an empty netter for her fourth goal of the season to seal the 5-2 sweep for the Wildcats with their highest-scoring outing of 2014-15.
White finished the game with 30 saves for her fourth win of the season. Solheim recorded her second two-goal game of the season, while Fabsits' goal and assist were good enough for her third multi-point game of the year.
With both tallies, Solheim now moves into a tie with Killmer for the team lead in goals (7). Killmer remains in the lead for points with 14, while Solheim is just behind with 12.
Rasmussen became the first Wildcat this season to play in 100 collegiate games (25 games were played with Concordia University Wisconsin in 2011-12). With the the Wildcats move to overall and in the MIAC. They close out the regular season in a home series against Concordia College next weekend. The first game is slated for 7 p.m. Friday at Drake Arena with Saturday's game scheduled for 2 p.m.
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