MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn.---Though the St. Catherine University hockey team appeared to have been outplayed on the scoresheet Friday against No. 4 nationally-ranked University of St. Thomas, the team was just one shot away from tying the league-leader. The Wildcats got one of the shots they needed – a power play goal in the final seconds of the second period – but it wasn't enough to take down the Tommies Saturday's 2-1 game-two loss at St. Thomas Arena.
The Wildcats generated significantly more offense than Friday with 25 shots on goal and kept the Tommie offense a bit more under control with just 33 shots making it to
Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) who tallied 31 saves on the day.
"This is the consistency and effort we need the last four weeks," said Head Coach
Brad Marshall. "We finally played well in back-to-back games. Again, Abbi played well and gave us a chance, but we tested their goalie more today than last ngiht. Hopefully we find a way to bottle up this focus and energy for next weekend."
Unlike Friday, the Tommies wasted very little time getting on the board as Megan Juricko beat White on a set up from Hannah Bird just 2:28 into the game. The Wildcats then held the Tommies scoreless until 4:44 of the second period when Kaylee Druk scored to push the Tommie lead to 2-0.
The Wildcats responded on a much-need power play opportunity, though, when first-year
Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) scored her third goal of the season on a set up from
Mallory Ryan (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) with just 23 seconds remaining in the second period.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn't turn that momentum into anything more in the third period before eventually falling to the Tommies 2-1. Muller fueled the Wildcat offense with eight shots on goal.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 1-12-4 on the season and in 0-9-1 in conference play. The Wildcats will welcome a struggling St. Olaf College squad Friday for game one of the two-game series at 7:30 p.m. at Drake Arena.
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