ST. PAUL, Minn.---The St. Catherine University hockey team showed its potential to compete in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) last weekend in tying perennial powerhouse Gustavus Adolphus College. The Wildcats had to follow up that contest with a two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series against No. 4-ranked University of St. Thomas team. 

Despite scoring a goal late in the game after pulling the goalie for an extra skater, the Wildcats couldn't complete their comback in falling 2-1 to the Tommies Friday evening at Drake Arena. 

"Our goalies are giving us a chance to be in the game every night," said Head Coach Brad Marshall of goalie Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) who kicked out 44 of St. Thomas' 46 shots on goal to tie her career-high for saves in a game.

"Abbi held us in there tonight," said Marshall. "Were we chasing them tonight? Sure, but we also sent a good message that we're not going to give up. We're looking forward to the next nine games, but we also know it starts tomorrow against the same team that is highly-ranked in the country." 

The Tommies came out flying against the Wildcats from the get-go posting 20 shots on goals through the opening 20 minutes of play. The reigning MIAC champions wasted no time in taking a lead as Allie Borgstrom scored close on White with assists from Kaylee Druk and Courtney Umland at the 9:38 mark. 

The Wildcats managed to hold the Tommies to just one goal through the first, but the Tommies broke through again just past the midway mark when Leah Schwartzman beat White on a wide-open opportunity thanks to quick work from Becca Zarembenski at 10:12 for the 2-0 Tommie lead. 

The Tommies continued to own the game on the scoreboard, but the Wildcats showed some life in the third period and began to consistently control play for sustained amounts of time. Then, Marshall pulled White to add an extra attacker which allowed Alex Pederson (Park Rapids, Minn./Park Rapids) to push in a goal through traffic with 1:09 remaining in the game. 

Despite cutting the Tommies' lead in half, the Wildcats ran out of time to complete their comeback in falling 2-1. Pederson netted her second goal of the season, while Laurel Prodahl (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo) picked up her first point of the season on the first assist and Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) tallied her second assist of the season. 

Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn./Thief River Falls) and Randi Fabsits (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) led the Wildcats offensively with five and four shots on goal, respectively. 

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 1-11-4 on the season and 0-8-1 in the MIAC. They will face the league-leading Tommies again Saturday at 2 p.m. in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, at St. Thomas Arena. 

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