ST. PAUL, MINN. – After a somewhat disappointing tie to Carleton College on Tuesday, the St. Catherine University soccer team was looking for its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win of the season on Saturday. To do that, the Wildcats had to travel across the I-94 bridge to play cross town rival Hamline University. The 10 minute drive was worth it, as St. Kate's left the Pipers home field with a 3-1 win and its first MIAC victory of the year.

"I'm very proud of the group," soccer head coach Chris Citowicki said after the game. "Every goal we scored was outstanding. There was never any panic because we know what we are capable of."

Before kickoff, the Wildcats game plan was to jump to an early lead with fast, aggressive offensive play. However, it was Hamline who got off to the hot start from the get go. The Pipers scored the first goal of the game less than three minutes in, putting St. Kate's in a 1-0 hole early.

"We started a little slow," Citowicki admitted, "but I'm very happy with how we bounced back from being down 1-0."

Rather than panic, the Wildcats responded with two quick shots by Molly Hayes (South St. Paul, Minn. / South St. Paul) and Hannah Okerstrom (Bayport, Minn. / Stillwater), but Hamline goalkeeper Amy Ramras was there to make the save both times. In fact, Ramras and the Piper defense made three saves and two blocks halfway through the first half.

After 24 minutes of scoreless play, though, Allie Bird (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) had enough of the 0 on St. Kate's side of the scoreboard. The first year midfielder scored a wide open goal off a cross by Alyssa Siljendahl (Duluth, Minn. / Hermantown) to tie the game at one with 20 minutes remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats weren't satisfied with one first half goal and went about trying to score as many as possible before the half ended. Despite creating multiple scoring opportunities, the team was unable to find the back of the next. With under five minutes to go in the half, St. Kate's put together one last try to take a first half lead over the Pipers. This time, the Wildcats didn't miss. Iryna Talkachova (Shoreview, Minn. / Shattuck-St. Mary's) scored from the left side of the field at 41:12, giving St. Kate's a 2-1 lead it would never relinquish.

While the one goal lead proved to be enough, Kaitlin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn. / North St. Paul) wasted no time adding to the Wildcats leads. The sophomore scored the insurance goal five minutes into the second half to solidify St. Kate's 3-1 victory.

After giving up the initial goal, the Wildcat defense shut down Hamline's offense, as goalkeepers Shelby Fehringer (Anoka, Minn. / Anoka) and Tayler Koop (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) combined for seven saves in 90 minutes of work.  Koop made four saves while not allowing a goal in the second half to earn her fourth win of 2016. The Wildcat offense also outshot the Pipers 14-12 with 11 shots on goal. 

With the win, St. Kate's improves to 4-0-1 overall and now have a 1-0-1 mark in conference play. The Wildcats will return to the pitch Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game at Augsburg College.