The St. Catherine University soccer team may have opened the season with a plethora of scoring in its first victory, but it would take just one its follow-up game to secure a win and extend its winning streak to two. Thanks to a goal from Elly Leyva (San Jacinto, Calif./San Jacinto) in the waning minutes, the Wildcats pulled off a 1-0 victory over Simpson College Sunday in Indianola, Iowa. 

"I was very happy with our performance," said Head Coach Chris Citowicki. "These are the games that last year we couldn't finish. We would control the game and create the chances, but the ball wouldn't go in. Today it did. Today we were hungrier and cleaner. I'm very proud and look forward to seeing if we can keep this up." 

The Wildcats dominated the game throughout with a 19-2 advantage in shots and a 9-0 advantage in shots on goal. In the opening half, the Wildcats managed to put five shots toward Simpson goalie Kristin Riley but couldn't find a way to score. 

Then, in the second half, the Wildcats continued with the same intensity with the same result. That was until there were less than three minutes remaining on the clock and Leyva found the back of the net for her second goal of the season. First, Leyva took a shot and came up scoreless against Riley, but managed to bury her rebound to lift the Wildcats to the 1-0 win. 

Leyva led the Wildcat offense with four shots with her one on goal managing to be the game-winner. She is now tied for the team lead in points with five. Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn./Stillwater) led the team in shots on goal with two, while Kaitlin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn./North St. Paul) and Ellen Kokes (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) also had two shots. 

Danielle Mendez (Bloomington, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) tallied 90 minutes in goal for the Wildcats picking up her first shutout of the season and 13th of her career. 

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 2-0 on the season. They return to action Tuesday for the home opener against the University of Wisconsin-Stout Tuesday at 4 p.m. in St. Paul. 

Wildcat Soccer on Twitter
Wildcat Soccer on Facebook
Wildcats on Twitter
Wildcats on Facebook