ST. PAUL, MINN. – Series between the St. Catherine University hockey team and the Hamline University Pipers are always two of the most contested games of the 2017-18 hockey season. After a strong defensive showing on Friday, the Wildcats were hoping to upset the Pipers at home Saturday afternoon. Sadly, St. Kate's was unable to win its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) game of the season, falling to Hamline by a final score of 4-0.

The Wildcats actually had the first opportunity to score early in the game, as the Pipers Kaitlyn Davidson took a penalty for hooking at 1:08 in the first period. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to capitalize during the opportunity, and quickly found itself in penalty trouble. First year forward Ashlyn Rakos (Waconia, Minn. / Holy Family) took back to back penalties just minutes apart in the latter stages of the period, and the Pipers took advantage on the ensuing power plays, as they took a 1-0 lead at 15:28 on a goal from Leah Schwartzman.

The Wildcats managed to get out of the first period relatively unscathed other than giving up the single Hamline goal and were optimistic to start the second. Sadly, things sort of went off the rails in the second period, as St. Kate's spent 12 of the period's 20 minutes a man short. The Wildcats took six penalties in the period and gave up three Hamline goals, despite senior goalie Kristen Pechacek's (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) best efforts to keep the Pipers off the board. The senior faced 26 of a career-high 55 shots in
the second period alone and saved all but three, marking one of the best goalie performances in program history. Unfortunately, Hamline did manage to score four goals against Pechacek, resulting in a 4-0 loss for St. Kate's.

As previously mentions, Pechacek faced a career high 55 shots in 60 minutes of work and made 51 saves, bringing her MIAC-leading save total up to 265 on the season. Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen) and Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) led the team with four shots a piece.

With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 1-8-0 and they are 0-6-0 in MIAC play. St. Kate's will enjoy a week off from competition before taking on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 7:30 p.m. on December 15.