SARTELL, MINN. - The St. Catherine University hockey team continued their competitive play against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents Friday night with a 1-1 tie against the College of Saint Benedict.

"I liked the way we finished," head coach Brad Marshall said after the hard fought game. "We were aggressive and we won some battles."

The first period ended in a 0-0 tie after a relatively calm period where no minor or major penalties were assessed. The Blazers outshot the Wildcats 11-5 in the first twenty minutes of play but were unable to slip any shots past sophomore goaltender Kristin Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis./Chequamegon).

Both offenses tried to get out to a quick start in the second period, and Saint Ben's was the team to strike first. Senior forward Aly Hoffman scored the Blazers one and only goal of the night off a pass from forward Brigette Miller. After that, the penalty flood gates opened. Saint Ben's defenseman Kylie Eklund was given two minutes for cross checking, but the Blazers were able to burn off that penalty despite the Wildcats attack.

Less than one minute after Eklund returned to the ice, Saint Ben's received another minor penalty call, this one on Hannah Essleman for interference. Fourteen seconds after Essleman went in the box, the Wildcats struck. Senior defenseman Mallory Ryan (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) scored her fifth goal of the season, tying the game in the final score of 1-1.

After a third period that featured only seven combined shots and two penalties, the game needed overtime to determine a winner. However, St. Kate's was unable to find the net again despite several chances.

"[We] had some pretty good looks late in OT, but just couldn't capitalize," Marshall said.

The Wildcats were 1-3 on the penalty kill Friday night, while Saint Ben's was 0-1. In 65 minutes of play, Pechacek stopped 28 of 29 shots.