ST. PAUL, MINN. – It's the busy time of the season for the St. Catherine University soccer team. Starting Saturday, the Wildcats played seven consecutive games against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic (MIAC) opponents to make a push for the postseason tournament. The team could not have gotten off to a better spot, securing a 2-1 win over St. Olaf College in the final 20 minutes of play.

"Every game in the MIAC is tough and this is a big win for us," head coach Chris Citowicki said after the game. "St. Olaf is a great team and I'm happy with how we played, especially how we responded to them leveling the game."

The Wildcats and Oles were evenly matched in the first half, as neither team was able to breakthrough the other team's goalkeeper. Still, St. Kate's had plenty of opportunities to score the first goal of the game. The Wildcats outshot St. Olaf 16-3 in the opening have, and Ole gamekeeper Julie Johnson made six first half saves.

"We started off strong and should have put a couple away in the first half," Citowicki acknowledged. However, he didn't have much to worry about as his defense completely stifled St. Olaf's offense, allowing just three shots in the entire first half. Shelby Fehringer (Andover, Minn. / Andover) did her job in goal, making two saves to keep the score knotted at zero.

The second half, though, was a different story. Both teams created plenty of opportunities for scoring, but it was the Wildcats who managed to break through first. After Johnson saved a shot by Kaitlin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn. / North St. Paul), the ever opportunistic Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn. / Stillwater) was there to scoop up the rebound and score St. Kate's first goal of the ball game.

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead at 53:09 and needed to burn over 30 minutes off the clock in order to secure the victory. However, St. Olaf wasn't about to go away quietly. The Oles' Abby Stets evened the score with a goal of her own at 62:40. Stets took advantage of a cross in front of the net and finished on the backside behind a diving Tayler Koop (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) to tie the game at one.

After that, both teams had plenty of opportunities to take the lead, but the goalkeepers put on a defensive clinic. Koop made three saves in the later part of the game, while Johnson stopped three St. Kate's shots that game her way.

The Wildcats offensive attack eventually paid off in the 78^th minute. After a shot attempt bounced off the feet of an Ole defender, St. Kate's was awarded its first corner kick of the half. The team took advantage of the opportunity, as Nicole Palsgrove (Maple Grove, Minn. / Wayzeta) scored her first goal of the season with the long goal from the corner.

"St. Olaf came out strong [in the second half], but we stayed disciplined and took care of business when we had to."

The Wildcats discipline helped them earn their third MIAC win of the season and improve their overall record to 7-2-1 overall. St. Kate's next game will take place on Tuesday, when it will face one of its toughest opponents of the season. The Wildcats will face Bethel University, who is undefeated in conference play, at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Bethel's home field.