ST. PAUL, MINN. – Last season, the St. Catherine University hockey team waited 10 games to get its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win of the season.

This year, St. Kate's only had to wait two games.

After two tough losses to Augsburg College last weekend, the Wildcats entered Saturday night's series opener against Concordia College with high hopes in what was expected to be a fast paced offensive game. Those high hopes payed off, as St. Kate's offense erupted for six goals in 60 minutes of play to earn its first MIAC win of the season 6-2 over the visiting Cobbers.

Just as anticipated, the first period was fast paced, as both teams looked to take an early lead with aggressive play on offense. However, that aggressive play led to an early penalty for the Wildcats, as MacKenzie Ess (Burnsville, Minn. / Apple Valley) was sent to the box for holding just two minutes into the game. With Ess sidelined, Concordia showed its offensive prowess, as Jess Nelson scored her sixth goal of the season to give the Cobbers a 1-0 lead.

With an early goal two minutes into the game, it looked like Concordia, who scored 13 goals in two games against the College of Saint Benedict last weekend, was just starting to heat up. However, St. Kate's knew it would have to keep up offensively if it wanted to win its first MIAC game of the year, and the Wildcats did just that. Less than 20 seconds after Nelson scored the opening goal of the game, left winger Allie Guzy (Blaine, Minn. / Spring Lake Park) scored the equalizer after a key defensive play by Alex Pederson (Park Rapids, Minn. / Park Rapids) and off a beautiful pass from Cassie Thomas (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) to tie the score 1-1.

After the early goals, both teams continued to generate multiple scoring opportunities, but Klug and St. Kate's goalie Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn. / Forest Lake) were both strong in between the pipes for their respective teams. White faced 10 shots in the opening period and made nine saves to keep Concordia off the scoreboard. Klug was strong as well, but eventually faltered at 12:45 in the first half. With the Wildcats starting to gain some offensive momentum, defender Tori Thompson's (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo) slap shot was headed right towards Klug's chest. However, just as the goalie was about to make the save, Pederson deflected the shot to the back of the net, scoring her second goal of the game and putting St. Kate's ahead 2-1.

The score remained 2-1 until the end of the period, and, for just the second time all season, the Wildcats opened the second period with a one goal lead over their opponent. They eventually added to the lead, as Guzy scored her second goal of the game, and second of the season, at 10:39 to give St. Kate's a 3-1 lead. After that, the flood gates opened. Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn. / Thief River Falls) scored a breakaway goal thanks to a defensive strip by Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) to give the Wildcats a 4-1 lead at 11:03 in the second period.

Concordia did manage to score a second goal just a few minutes later as Ellen Rethwisch snuck the puck past White to cut St. Kate's lead to 4-2. However, that was the last time White would surrender a goal to the Cobbers. The senior goalie made 35 saves and faced 37 shots in the victory, improving her save percentage to .942 this season.

In the third period, the Wildcats continued to put pressure on Klug. Erika Vallier (Tomahawk, Wis. / Tomahawk) put St. Kate's up 5-2 with her third goal of the season then cemented the Wildcats victory with an empty net goal at 16:20 in the third period.

Thanks to the win, St. Kate's improves to 3-4-0 overall and holds a 1-2-0 mark in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to the ice tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota when they look to close out the series with another win against Concordia.