ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University hockey team could not have been riding higher entering Friday evening's home opener against the University of Wisconsin-Superior. The Wildcats were coming off a dominant win to open the season and have historically played well against the Yellowjackets. Unfortunately, St. Kate's made a few too many costly mistakes in the third period and weren't able to capitalize on offensive chances early, resulting in a 5-2 loss to UW-Superior.
The Wildcats played tough defensive hockey in the first period and had several opportunities to take an early lead. The Yellowjackets committed two penalties in the opening period, including one in the opening five minutes of play, to give St. Kate's a power play opportunity. The Wildcats were, unfortunately, unable to capitalize on either power play and ended the period with zero goals despite putting 11 shots on goal.
With the first period winding down, it looked like St. Kate's and UW-Superior were going to the locker rooms deadlocked in a 0-0 draw. However, with 22 seconds remaining in the period, Yellowjacket center Emily Heid beat starting goalie
Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) underneath to give UW-Superior the 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats made sure to even the score six minutes into the second period, as senior
Rebecca Prigge (Stillwater, Minn. / Minnesota Thoroughbreds) scored her first goal of the season in dramatic fashion. The senior stripped a Yellowjacket forward of the puck then took a shot from the blue line. When UW-Superior's starting goal Sky Brown didn't pick up the rebound, Prigge swooped in and snuck the puck behind Brown's right skate to tie the game 1-1.
The Yellowjackets scored at 14:09 to take a 2-1 lead, but St. Kate's had a brilliant answer just three minutes later. After UW-Superior's Heid was called for interference at 18:22,
Brede Postier (Dodge County, Minn. / Hamline) took the face off in the Yellowjackets zone. The junior kicked it back to
Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn. / John Marshall) at the top of the circle who took the shot not a second into the penalty. Brown didn't even see it coming, as she watched Thompson's slap shot sail to the back of the net and even the score at 2-2.
After Thompson's thrilling goal, the momentum seemed to swing in the Wildcats direction at the start of the third period. St. Kate's top lines were passing and moving the puck up the ice into UW-Superior's zone, generating multiple scoring chances, especially for Postier,
Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) and
Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen). Unfortunately, the Wildcats made costly mistakes on loose pucks, as the Yellowjackets went on to score three goals in the third period to win the game 5-2.
"We seemed to be on the wrong end of every loose puck battle in the last 20 minutes," head coach
Brad Marshall said in his postgame analysis. "Tomorrow needs to be a different story with a better ending."
Despite giving up five goals and taking the loss, Pechacek played well in her home debut. The senior goaltender faced 50 shots in 59:45 minutes of play, including a combined 34 in the final two periods.
With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 1-1-0 and the team has yet to play a game in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. The Wildcats will return to the ice on Saturday, when they take on UW-Superior in the second of a two-game series. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. in Superior, Wisconsin.
