ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University soccer team has had no trouble scoring lately. The Wildcats scored eight goals in their last three games and have scored at least one goal in all their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) games. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to capitalize on its scoring chances Tuesday afternoon, as it was shut out by the College of Saint Benedict in a 1-0 loss.

The Wildcats had multiple chances to score during both the first and second halves of competition and even outshot the Blazers 16-15. Three minutes in, St. Kate's looked to take a quick and decisive lead, as Allie Bird (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) took a shot from the far side of the field. Sadly, Saint Ben's goalkeeper Kendall Koenen was there to make the save, preserving the shutout.

Unfortunately, Koenen made quite a few saves against the Wildcats Tuesday afternoon. St. Kate's sent four shots her way, and the Blazer keeper was there to make all four saves. Twice she sniped Kailtin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn. / North St. Paul) scoring and kept the Wildcats off the board for 90 minutes of the play.

Tayler Koop (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) was just as good in net for St. Kate's. The sophomore keeper gave up just one goal and made six saves in 90 minutes of play, her best game of the 2017. The lone goal she gave up game in the 47^th minute, as Saint Ben's Sydney Bramer scored after Koop went to play a cross high in the box.

After the Blazers took the 1-0 lead, the Wildcats did everything in their power to even the score. St. Kate's best scoring chance game in the 78^th minute of the game. When Machovec drew the Saint Ben's defenders away from the middle of the box, Molly Hayes (South St. Paul, Minn. / South St. Paul) and Maddie Conners (Lake Elmo, Minn. / Hill-Murray) were left wide open near the net. Machovec passed it over to Hayes who found Conners at the top for a beautiful tick-tack-toe play. Unfortunately, Conners was unable to convert, as her shot rung off the cross bar and fell back into the foot of a Blazer defender.

The Wildcats continued to battle in the final 10 minutes, garnering several more opportunities to score on Koenen. Iryna Talkachova (Minsk, Belarus / Shattuck-St. Mary's) had two chances on free kicks but both shots were saved in the final few minutes. After a St. Kate's free kick was saved, Saint Ben's kept the ball in the Wildcats zone for the final three minutes of play, resulting in a 1-0 loss for the Wildcats.

Machovec led the team with a season high seven shots, while Bird added three and Talkachova had two.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 4-5-2 and the team is now 3-2-2 in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to the pitch on Saturday, when they host the University of St. Thomas at 1 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota.