ST. PAUL, Minn.---After a tough start to the season in 2015, the St. Catherine University hockey team was looking forward to leaving all of that behind in 2016 and start fresh with a non-conference contest against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Hamline University. Thankfully for Head Coach Brad Marshall, the Wildcat offense finally came to life to scrape out a much-needed 3-0 shutout over the Pipers Wednesday evening at Drake Arena. 

"It was nice to win and be successful ont he power play," said Marshall after the team's first win of the season. "We're a team that needs everyone to play up to their top potential. Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis./Chequamegon) held us in the game, but a lot of Hamline's shots came from the outside. Overall, I think we're pleased with tonigh, but not too satisfied."

Pechacek earned her first win of the season making several critical saves and kicking away all 29 of the Pipers' shots on goal for her second shutout of the year. The Wildcats may have been outshot 29-22, but they held an important advantage in faceoff wins 34-38. They also managed to kill all three penalties they were assessed and capitalized on their lone power play. 

The Wildcats didn't waste any time to score their first goal of the new year when Allie Guzy (Blaine, Minn./Spring lake Park) found the net for the first time of her collegiate career just 1:40 in to the game on an assist from Anna Carman (Lutsen, Minn./Cook County) to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. 

Less than 10 minutes later, the Wildcats earned a five-minute power play and took full advantage when Mallory Ryan (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) scored on a set up from first-year Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead after one period of play. 

The next two periods remained nearly scoreless until Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn./Thief River Falls) tallied an empty net goal on an assist from Randi Fabsits (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) and Thompson with 37 seconds left in regulation putting a Piper comeback out of reach. 

Ryan and Fabsits led the Wildcats offensively with three shots on goal, while Annie Buttermore (Grant, Minn./Mahtomedi) also had three shots on Piper goalie Jessica Cole. Karly Nelson (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks) and Thompson also had two shots a piece.

With the win, the Wildcats move to 1-7-2 on the season. They are slated for a two-game non-conference series against the University of Wisconsin-Superior this weekend beginning Friday with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Drake Arena. Saturday's game will take place at 1 p.m. in Superior, Wisconsin. 

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