ST. PAUL, MINN. – In terms of opening weekends, the St. Catherine University hockey team could not have asked for a better one.
The Wildcats hung with the Lake Forest College Foresters in their opening game of the season Saturday night, but costly defensive mistakes resulted in a 5-1 loss. Whatever mistakes St. Kate's made Saturday night, the team made up for it on Sunday as it upset No. 9 ranked Lake Forest 3-2 in thrilling overtime fashion.

St. Kate's earned its victory over the Foresters in every sense of the word, especially after falling into a 1-0 hole early in the first period. Two minutes into the game, Wildcat captain Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn. / Thief River Falls) took a costly penalty for slashing, which resulted in Lake Forest's first goal of the game. Forester forward Olivia Spellmire beat goalie Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn. / Forest Lake) underneath to give her team a 1-0 lead at 3:22.

After the first three minutes, St. Kate's started to generate some offensive opportunities in Lake Forest's zone but were unable to get the puck past first year goalie Jacque Rogers. While Rogers was busy stopping the Wildcats shots, White was holding the Foresters at bay, stopping 12 shots in the first period alone to keep her team within one goal of Lake Forest.

St. Kate's was even tighter defensively in the second period, giving the offense plenty of opportunities and time to tie the game at one. Eleven minutes into the period, the Wildcats did just that. Solheim kicked a puck in the corner out to Rebecca Prigge (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater), who hit the slap shot from the top of the circle. Her shot was too much for Rogers to handle, as Prigge scored the game tying goal with less ten minutes remaining in the second period.

Roughly 45 seconds later, Natalie West (Appleton, Wis. / Appleton East) won a faceoff in the Foresters zone and passed the puck back to Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo). Rather than pass the puck to a waiting teammate, Thompson wound up and shot a one timer past a diving Rogers to give St. Kate's a 2-1 advantage over Lake Forest.

Once they took the lead, the Wildcats tightened up on defense, especially when Lake Forest was awarded a power play. Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn.  / Chanhassen) took a penalty for hooking at 13:35, and less than a minute later, Thompson was given a penalty for roughing, giving the Foresters a 5-3 advantage for over a minute of play. St. Kate's successfully killed off both penalties and continued to hold off Lake Forest's offense to end the second period with a 2-1 lead.

The Foresters, though, were not about to hand the Wildcats their first win of the season and quickly evened the score at 1:51 in the third period. After White made a fantastic save, Lexi Morgan scooped up the rebound to even the game at 2-2 early in the third period.

Both teams had multiple opportunities to take the lead after Morgan's goal, but the defensively play of both St. Kate's and Lake Forest was outstanding. White saved 12 of the 13 shots she faced in the period, while Rogers made five saves, including a breakaway shot by Solheim that would have given the Wildcats the lead midway through the period.

Neither team was able to find the net in the remaining minutes of regulation, resulting in the 2-2 tie. After a brief intermission, the Wildcats and Foresters retook the ice for a five minute overtime. Just like in the previous period, Lake Forest was aggressive offensively, whipping off five quick shots on goal, but White was there for the save each time.

Finally, St. Kate's got its chance to score and didn't miss. After several minutes of play in the Wildcats zone, Tentis saw an open Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) waiting at center ice and passed the puck to her just as the Foresters were making a line change. With the advantage, Muller skated up the ice to draw the Foresters only defender. Once it was too late, Muller passed the puck to Cassie Thomas (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) who buried the puck in the back net to clinch the 3-2 upset victory.

With the win, the Wildcats earn their first win of the season, improving their overall record to 1-1-0. More impressively, it is the first time in over three years that St. Kate's has beat a ranked opponent in the regular season. Coming into the weekend, Lake Forest was the No. 9 ranked team in the country by both D3hockey.com and the USHCO.

The Wildcats look to carry the winning momentum with them to next weekend's nonconference series against the University of Wisconsin-Superior. St. Kate's and Superior will face off in a home-and-home series, in which the Wildcats will play at the Yellow Jackets rink on Friday and return home on Saturday.