Heading into the 2015 season, the St. Catherine University soccer team spent plenty of time focusing on its offense in hopes of scoring more goals than a year ago. In its season opener, goals were not in short supply as the Wildcats cruised to an impressive 7-0 shutout win against the University of Wisconsin-Superior Tuesday in Superior, Wisconsin.
The Wildcats mounted an impressive performance to kick off 2015 as they hurled 32 shots in the direction of the Yellow Jacket goal with 20 shots on goal recorded. They also held a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks as they controlled play throughout the non-conference contest.
After leading the Wildcats in scoring last season, junior
Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn./Stillwater) wasted no time getting the Wildcat offense going when she scored just 14:07 into the game beating Yellow Jackets' goalie Bailey Henderson for the 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats quickly built their lead to 2-0 when senior
Elly Leyva (San Jacinto, Calif./San Jacinto) scored her first goal since 2013 at the 28:11 mark of the first half with an assist from first-year
Kaitlin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn./North St. Paul) for her first collegiate point.
Anna Pedersen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) scored her second collegiate goal in the 38th minute with an assist to
Hannah Brown (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South) to push the Wildcats' lead to 3-0 heading into the half.
The offense kept coming for the Wildcats in the second half as senior
Ellen Kokes (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) scored just over three minutes in to increase the lead to 4-0 in favor of the Wildcats.
Emily Stengel (Mankato, Minn./Mankato East) picked up her first collegiate point on an assist to Kokes for the goal.
Kelly Molitor (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South) made it 5-0 in the 70th minute when she scored on a set up from Okerstrom. Less than seven minutes later, Okerstrom was at it again when she netted her second goal of the game on an assist from Leyva for the 6-0 lead. The seventh and final Wildcat goal came off the foot of Pedersen who recorded her first multi-point performance in a Wildcat uniform.
In net, senior goalkeeper
Danielle Mendez (Bloomington, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) stopped both shots she faced, while
Shelby Fehringer (Andover, Minn./Andover) entered the goal in the second half to help the team earn a shutout.
Okerstrom picked up a total of five points for her second-collegiate multi-point performance in her career. Leyva also recorded her second multi-point game as a Wildcat – her first came as a first-year in 2012 in the season opener also against the Yellow Jackets.
En route to victory, the Wildcats were led offensively by Okerstrom who collected six shots on goal. Leyva and Pedersen each had three shots that made it on goal, while
Carly Novak (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) had two shots on goal.
With the win, the Wildcats start the season 1-0 for just the second time in five years. The Wildcats return to non-conference action Sunday as they head south to face Simpson College. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. in Indianola, Iowa.
Wildcat Soccer on TwitterWildcat Soccer on FacebookWildcats on TwitterWildcats on Facebook
