MOORHEAD, MINN. – Through the first four games of the season, the third period has been the St. Catherine University hockey team's kryptonite. In Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) game at Concordia College, the Wildcats were hoping to turn their fortunes around and earn their first conference win of the season. Sadly, St. Kate's was once again doomed by the third period, as it fell to Concordia 3-1.
Just like in Friday night's game, the Wildcats took the early lead over the Cobbers.
MacKenzie Ess (Apple Valley, Minn. / Burnsville) gave St. Kate's an early 1-0 with a power play goal at 5:07 in the second period. Unfortunately, Concordia struck four minutes later, as Emily Goff beat
Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) on a power play to even the score at 1-1.
The second period ended with St. Kate's and Concordia knotted in a 1-1 draw, and the third period picked up where the second left off. The Wildcats and Cobbes took matching minors three minutes in when
Brede Postier (Dodge County, Minn. / Hamline) and Maddie Ellingson were both called for roughing. Neither team was able to score during 4-on-4 play, and the penalties ended with the score still tied 1-1.
The Wildcats eventually earned a power play opportunity midway through the period, as Concordia's Callie Fagerstrom was called for hooking. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to take advantage of the opportunity and suffered a penalty of its own 45 seconds after the power play ended. First year
Hunter Gallus (Delano, Minn. / Mound-Westonka) was called for hooking at 13:06, resulting in a power play for the Cobbers.
Unlike the previous penalties, the Wildcats were unable to kill this particular penalty, as Concordia scored to go ahead 2-1. As the clock wound down, St. Kate's eventually pulled Pechacek in the final two minutes for an extra skater. Although the Wildcats peppered Concordia's goalie with shots in the final minute, it was the Cobbers who managed to score on the empty net, resulting in a 3-1 loss for St. Kate's.
Ess scored the Wildcats lone goal in the game, which was her first goal of the 2017-18 season. Pechacek played well in net for St. Kate's, as she faced 22 shots and made 20 saves.
With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 1-4-0 and they have a 0-2-0 mark in MIAC play. St. Kate's will return to the ice on Friday, November 17 when it travels to Mendota Heights, Minnesota to take on the University of St. Thomas at 7:30 p.m.
