ST. PAUL, MINN. – Underdog: a competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest. A long shot. Dark horse. Little guy. David.

The No. 5 seed in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) women's soccer team.

The St. Catherine University soccer team.

By all intents and purposes, St. Kate's was the definition of the underdog in Wednesday evening's MIAC semifinal versus the Augsburg University Auggies. The Wildcats were playing on the road less than 24 hours after beating the College of Saint Benedict in an opening round shoot out. They were also taking on the top-seeded Auggies, who lost just one game in MIAC play all season, and it was on the road. St. Kate's had also never won a game in MIAC tournament play, despite advancing to the semifinal in back-to-back seasons. None of that, though, phased the Wildcats, as they walked into Edor Nelson field and upset Augsburg 1-0 to advance to the MIAC Championship for the first time in program history.

St. Kate's statistically played its best game of the season Wednesday evening, as the Wildcats outshot the Auggies 18-14 in 90 minutes of regulation. The team also wasted no time scoring the first goal of the game, curtsey of Allie Bird (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) and Racheal Holm (Bemidji, Minn. / Bemidji). Holm paid a tuppence and fed the Bird at the top right corner of the box, and the sophomore forward certainly didn't miss her shot. Bird hit an absolute bullet off Holm's cross over the hand of Augsburg keeper Emily Chapman to give St. Kate's the 1-0 lead at 11:02.

Although the Wildcats only scored the one goal, it was enough to earn them the win. Jessica Perez-Adame (San Jacinto, Calif. / San Jacinto) was stellar in goal against for St. Kate's, making seven saves and not allowing a single goal in 90 minutes of play. However, the Auggies had several chances to tie the game, and even take the lead, especially in the opening half. With approximately 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Augsburg was rewarded a penalty kick after the Wildcats committed a foul inside the box. Ashley St. Aubin, though, shanked the ball through the uprights, and St. Kate's entered half time with a 1-0 lead.

The remaining 45 minutes of the game were arguably the most exciting, despite the fact that neither team scored a goal. Kaitlin Machovec (Woodbury, Minn. / North St. Paul) shot two blasts from 20 yards out, but the Auggie keeper made the save both times. Augsburg also had several chances to tie the game, as it switched to a 3-4-4 formation late in the second half. Gabriela Encarnacion hit the cross bar twice in the final 10 minutes, and Perez-Adame made a fantastic SportsCenter worthy save in the final minute to preserve the shutout.

After Perez-Adame made the save, she cleared the ball past midfield and found Molly Hayes (South St. Paul, Minn. / South St. Paul) near midfield. Hayes then booted the ball out of bounds toward the Auggie sideline as the announcer counted down from 10. As the announcer called out the final second, the Wildcats stormed Perez-Adame on the far side of the field, as St. Kate's earned the 1-0 win to advance to the MIAC Championship.

The Wildcats 1-0 win over Augsburg was historic in many ways. It marked St. Kate's first official win in the conference tournament in program history, as the Wildcats advanced thanks to shootout wins each of the last two seasons. It also marks the first time St. Kate's has ever advanced to the MIAC Championship game.

The Wildcats were not the only underdog to win Wednesday. No. 6 seed Gustavus Adolphus College upset No. 2 St. Thomas on penalty kicks in the afternoon. As the higher seed, St. Kate's will host the MIAC Championship on its own home field this upcoming Saturday. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota. More information will be available as the week progresses.