ST. PAUL, MINN. – To say the St. Catherine University Wildcats needed a win Wednesday afternoon may be a gross understatement. After three consecutive losses to the top teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), the Wildcats needed a win in order to keep their postseason tournament hopes alive. That is exactly what St. Kate's did. Fueled by four second half goals, the Wildcats beat the Saint Mary's University Cardinals 5-0 in their final home game of the regular season.

"This was a very solid team performance, across the board, and it could not have come at a better time," soccer head coach Chris Citowicki said after the game.

Despite the final score, both the Wildcats and Cardinals struggled to break through the others respective goalkeeper. Neither team managed to score for the first 41 minutes of the game, thanks to strong play from Jessica Perez-Adame (San Jacinto, Calif. / San Jacinto) and Saint Mary's keeper Gabriella Pederson.

It wasn't until four minutes remained in the half that St. Kate's was finally able to break through the scoreless tie. Sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn. / North St. Paul) plowed through multiple Cardinal defenders on the left side of the field until she found herself one-on-one with the keeper. Pederson was there to save the shot, but her rebound went right into the waiting feet of Brittany Kollman (Fergus Falls, Minn. / Kennedy Seconday) who booted into the top corner of the net for the first goal of the game.

With Kollman's goal, the Wildcats went up 1-0 with 3:03 remaining in the half. The team continued to press the Cardinals defense for the remaining three minute but was unable to score. Still, St. Kate's held a 1-0 lead at halftime, and while Kollman's first half goal would be enough to beat Saint Mary's, the Wildcats simply weren't happy with just one goal in the game. St. Kate's offense roared to life in the second half, scoring four unanswered goals, while Perez-Adame and the defense preserved the shutout win.

Senior midfielder Julia Zyla (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Trinity) was the first Wildcat to score in the second half. After just missing a shot off the post two minutes earlier, Zyla booted the ball high towards the back post, looking for her teammate to score on the cross. However, her waiting teammate wasn't necessary, as Zyla's ball soared to the back corner of the net to give her the first goal of the season.

For the next 20 minutes, the score remained 2-0 thanks to Zyla's goal. Then, at 74:42, Machovec scored her third goal in five games off a free kick to put St. Kate's up 3-0. Kelly Molitor (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South) followed that up with a sliding goal from the back post off a cross from Gabi Fettig (Farmington, Minn. / Farmington) less than two minutes later to extend the team's lead to 4-0.

Even with the lead, the Wildcats continued to create offensive opportunities, which eventually led to the fifth goal of the night at 85:22. Kollman recorded her second goal of the game thanks to a steal and pass from Allie Bird (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) to cement St. Kate's 5-0 victory over the Cardinals.

Perez-Adame earned her second shutout victory of the season, making six saves in 90 minutes of work. The junior goalkeeper earned both shutout victories for St. Kate's this season, making her the first goalkeeper in program history to start their career with two compete game shutouts.

Kollman tallied the first multi-point and multi-game goal of her career, while Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn. / Stillwater) tied her own school record for points in a single season. Okerstrom assisted on Zyla's second half goal, giving her 29 total points on the year, matching the school record she set one year ago.

Citowicki credits the Wildcats preparation for their strong team performance on Wednesday, explaining the team had two great back-to-back days of practice leading up to the game.

"It was nice to see it all come together today," Citowicki commented. "We are excited to see what happens this weekend [at Concordia]."

With the victory, St. Kate's improves to 10-5-1 overall and 5-4-1 in MIAC play. It's the second consecutive season where the Wildcats have won at least 10 games overall and five in conference play.

St. Kate's week isn't over yet. The Wildcats will travel to Concordia College on Saturday to play the biggest game of the year. As of Wednesday, St. Kate's is in a tie for fifth place in the MIAC standings with the College of Saint Benedict. With a win over Concordia, the Wildcats can seal their ticket to the MIAC postseason soccer tournament for the second consecutive season as one of the top-6 teams in the conference. Kickoff for Saturday's big game is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Morehead, Minnesota.