NORTHFIELD, MINN. – It is officially crunch time for the St. Catherine University soccer team. With just two games remaining in the regular season, the Wildcats have two games to solidify their place in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings, including Wednesday afternoon's game at St. Olaf College. St. Kate's solidified its place in the top-6 in the conference thanks to a 1-1 draw with the Oles.
The Wildcats battled St. Olaf from the get go and wasted no time taking an early lead. In the 18
th minute,
Iryna Talkachova (Minsk, Belarus / Shattuck-St. Mary's) connected with
Molly Hayes (South St. Paul, Minn. / South St. Paul) on a free kick after the Oles committed a foul. Hayes did not waste the opportunity to give St. Kate's the 1-0 lead by booting the ball past Brynne Davis.
The Wildcat defense kept St. Olaf off the board for the rest of the first half. In fact, the Oles only managed to get two shots on goal in the first 45 minutes of play, both of which were saved by St. Kate's goalkeeper
Jessica Perez-Adame (San Jacinto, Calif. / San Jacinto). However, St. Olaf eventually got on the board in the 52
nd minute of the game, as Abby Stets scored her seventh goal of the season to even the score at 1-1.
Both the Oles and Wildcats had multiple chances to take a lead in the remaining minutes of the second half. Hayes, Talkachova and
Marissa Janssen (Oakdale, Minn. / North) each got shots off in the second half and had chances to give St. Kate's the lead. However, Davis saved every shot she faced in the second half preserving the score at 1-1.
After giving up the initial goal, Perez-Adame was gold in net for the Wildcats, making six saves in 110 minutes of play, four of which were in the second half. Perez-Adame also made two saves in the second overtime, preserving the 1-1 lead and ensuring St. Kate's earned at least one point in the MIAC standings.
With the tie, the Wildcats overall record improves to 6-6-3, and they have a 4-4-3 mark in MIAC play. St. Kate's currently sits in sixth place in the MIAC standings with 15 total points, meaning, if the season ended today, the Wildcats would be the sixth and final team in the conference tournament. St. Kate's will look to solidify its place in the tournament at 1 p.m. on Saturday when it hosts Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.