Box Score ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University soccer team has made a habit of handing undefeated teams their first loss of the season. In the past two season, the Wildcats have beat numerous regionally and nationally ranked teams in dramatic underdog fashion. Sadly, St. Kate's suffered its first shutout of the 2016 season, as the University of St. Thomas won Saturday afternoon's game 1-0.

The Wildcats entered Saturday's game against St. Thomas with momentum on its side, after handing Bethel University its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) of the season. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to recreate that performance against the Tommies.

"We started slow," soccer head coach Chris Citowicki said after the game. "Once we got into the game, we were good but in this sport, you cannot afford to have any down moments."

Unfortunately, one of those down moments for St. Kate's happened in the first five minutes of play. St. Thomas' Mallory DeBoom scored her fourth goal the season off a cross from Hailey Zweber, putting the Tommies up 1-0. It was the only goal Shelby Fehringer (Andover, Minn. / Andover) and the Wildcat defense would surrender, but it was enough to give St. Thomas a lead it would never relinquish.

St. Kate's responded with a strong second half and created several offensive scoring opportunities for its top goal scorers. Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn. / Stillwater) had a chance to even the score at the 52 minute mark, but Tommie goalkeeper Tarynn Theilig was there to make the save. Less than two minutes later, Kaitlin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn. / North St. Paul) tried to generate a goal for the Wildcats, but again Theilig was there.

After approximately 30 minutes of neutral play, St. Kate's had one more chance to tie the game in the 80^th minute. Julia Zyla (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Trinity) streaked up the field on the weak side, past the defender to get a great look at the goal. Again, though, Theilig was there with the save, and the Wildcats were again unable to capitalize on an offensive opportunity.

"We responded well in the second half but missed a couple really good offensive chances," Citowicki acknowledged. "We have two really big games next coming up next week and cannot wait to get back at it."

Those two big games Citowicki referred two may be two of St. Kate's biggest games this season. After the loss to St. Thomas, the Wildcats will play two crucial MIAC games this week against two of the top teams in the conference. First up, St. Kate's will travel to Augsburg College to make up the game that was supposed to happen in late September. Then, the Wildcats will host the reigning MIAC Postseason Champions, Gustavus Adolphus College, at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a game that could decide St. Kate's playoff fate.