ST. PAUL, MINN. – On Friday, the St. Catherine University hockey team led Bethel University for the majority of the game but was unable to come up with a victory due to inconsistencies.
On Saturday, it was a completely different story. Down 2-0 after the first period, the Wildcats battled back with two power play goals in the second. Then, in the third, St. Kate's was lifted to victory by none other than
Alex Pederson (Park Rapids, Minn. / Park Rapids), handing the reigning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular season champions their first conference loss of the season in dramatic 3-2 fashion.
"Everyone played hard tonight," head coach
Brad Marshall commented after the game. "The forwards played hard, the defense moved the puck, and [goalie] Kristen [Pechacek] made some big saves to earn us the win."
The Wildcats certainly learned from their mistakes on Friday night and played much more aggressively on both offense and defense. However, St. Kate's did get off to a bit of a slow start as the Royals scored the first goal of the game at 5:06 in the first period. Bethel forward Wendy Roberts beat
Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) to give her team a 1-0 lead. Later in the first period, after St. Kate's failed to score on a power play opportunity, the Royals extended their lead to 2-0 with an even strength goal by Kaitlyn Van Tassel.
Down 2-0 after the first period, the Wildcats could have easily given up for the remaining periods of play. However, St. Kate's showed its resiliency in the second period of play and was awarded its best scoring opportunity of the season as a result. At 3:12 in the second period, Bethel's Hannah Williams was sent to the penalty box for tripping, giving the Wildcats a 5-on-4 advantage. However, the situation got even better when the Royals suffered another penalty for hooking, giving St. Kate's a 5-on-3 advantage that the team did not waste.
Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen) scored her fourth goal of the season on the power play, cutting Bethel's lead to 2-1. Then, 50 seconds later,
Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) evened the score with her own power play goal.
After her team scored two goals in the second, Pechacek did everything in her power to make sure the Royals did not have a chance to retake the lead. After giving up the two goals in the first period, the junior goalie was fantastic between the pipes, making 37 saves, many of them in spectacular fashion. Her best save of the game came late in the second period, when she made a sprawling, diving save in the crease to preserve the score at 2-2.
Pechacek's stellar play allowed her team the chance to take the lead for good, which it eventually did at 11:30 in the third period. After several minutes of play where Bethel dominated on puck control, Pederson stripped the puck from a Royal defender and skated down the ice, gaining a one-on-one advantage against Straka. Pederson's quick wrist shot in front of the net soared past the goalie on her stick side, and the Wildcats finally had their first lead of the game at 3-2.
There was still plenty of time for Bethel to tie the game again, as it had Friday evening. However, Pechacek and St. Kate's defense held strong in the final minutes of play, especially when the Royals pulled their goalie for an extra skater in the final minute of the period. One final clear with under 10 seconds sealed the come-from-behind victory for the Wildcats.
With the 3-2 win, St. Kate's overall record improves to 4-6 and the team is 2-4 in MIAC play. The team will return to the ice on Friday, December 16 for a nonconference game against Finlandia University. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Drake Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.
