MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – It was exactly the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener head coach Brad Marshal and the St. Catherine University hockey team was looking for. The Wildcats battled with Augsburg College throughout the game, matching the Auggies in both goals and shots at the end of regulation. Sadly, overtime penalties proved costly for St. Kate's, as the team gave up a late goal in overtime to fall to Augsburg 2-1 in its MIAC opener.
The Wildcats played strong defensively throughout the entire game, but especially in the first period when the Auggies tried to take control with 13 shots on goal. Fortunately, St. Kate's goalie
Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) was there to make every save and her defense had her back every step of the way, especially when
Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen) took a penalty for interference midway through the period. The Wildcat defense, anchored by Pechacek, killed the two minute minor with quality saves and blocked shots to keep the score tied 0-0 in the first period.
St. Kate's also had plenty of offensive opportunities in the opening period, nearly scoring the first goal of the game on a breakaway by
Alex Pederson (Park Rapids, Minn. / Park Rapids). Unfortunately, the Wildcats were unable to capitalize on that particular play but had another scoring opportunity with over two minutes remaining in the period. Augsburg took a minor penalty for interference, and St. Kate's had a two-minute power play opportunity. The Auggie defense held strong, though, and the Wildcats were unable to score in their first power play opportunity of the game.
With the game knotted 0-0 after the first period, both teams came out aggressively in the second. However, is was Augsburg that eventually broke through the defensive strong hold. Sophomore forward Haley Williams forced a costly Wildcat turnover for a breakaway chance against Pechacek. Though the junior goalie made the initial save, Williams managed to push the puck over Pechacek's glove hand, giving the Auggies a 1-0 lead at 16:14 in the second period.
St. Kate's had a chance to tie the score less than a minute later, when Augsburg's Megan Johnson was called for a trip at 16:35. After missing on their first power play opportunity in the first period, the Wildcats made sure history didn't repeat itself. With the Auggie defense clogging the middle of the ice,
Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo) took a pass from
MacKenzie Ess (Burnsville, Minn. / Apple Valley) and faked a slap shot at the top of the key. Her defender took the bait, fell with Thompson, and the sophomore defender buried her shot behind Augsburg goalie Rebecca Sonnek to even the game at 1-1.
After that, both teams had several opportunities to take a lead, but neither was able to capitalize. St. Kate's offense came to light in the third period. After being outshot 23-15 in the first two periods, the Wildcats evened the shot count by outshoot the Auggies 11-2 in the third period. Unfortunately, St. Kate's never managed to find the back of the net, as regulation ended with the two teams still deadlocked at 1-1.
The Wildcats had the perfect opportunity to end the game early in the overtime period. The Auggies took a penalty for tripping with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, meaning the penalty carried over to the overtime period. When St. Kate's was unable to capitalize on the play in the third period, the team thought it had a legitimate chance to score the game winning goal in dramatic overtime fashion. Sadly, Augsburg burned the penalty, and the game went back to even strength with nearly four minutes remaining in the overtime period.
However, the game didn't stay at even strength for very long as Thompson was called for hooking 49 seconds into the period. The Wildcats were on their way to killing Thompson's two minute minor when
Lexi Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) was called for body checking and a cross check, giving the Auggies a 5-3 advantage. Though St. Kate's stayed strong through the first 20 seconds of the penalty kill, Augsburg managed to score the game winning goal at 2:19 in the period.
With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 2-3-0 and the team's MIAC record stands at 0-1-0. The Wildcats look to rebound and even the series on Saturday, when the team returns to Drake for a 5 p.m. puck drop against the Auggies.
