ST. PAUL, MINN. – The saying goes "you can't keep a good dog down." In the case of the St. Catherine University hockey team, the good dog is actually a Wildcat. After losing a tough battle against the Hamline University Pipers on Friday, the St. Kate's hockey team returned to the rink on Saturday determined to pull off an upset of yet another team bound for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs. The Wildcats did that and more Saturday afternoon at Oscar Johnson Arena, beating the Pipers 2-1 in overtime.  

"Obviously we got great goaltending [from White] and timely goals," head coach Brad Marshall said after the game. "We'll take the overtime win."

The Wildcats and Pipers picked up right where they left off Friday night with highly physical play on both offense and defense. Hamline sent 18 shots senior goalie Abbi White's (Wyoming, Minn. / Forest Lake) way, an identical number to the team's first period shots the night before. Fortunately, White was there to make every save, giving her offense plenty of opportunity to take the lead in the first period.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to get in a rhythm offensively in the opening period, resulting in a 0-0 tie at the end of the first period. In fact, the score remained 0-0 through the entire second period and the first minute and a half of the third, as neither team was able to break through the other's respective goalie. Again, the Pipers peppered White with 17 shots while the Wildcats managed six shots on the goal in the second period.

However, both team's spent plenty of time in the penalty box during the game. The Wildcats were sent to the penalty box eight times, while the Pipers were sent to the box five times, bringing the game total to 13. Despite the lopsided penalty total, White and the defense killed each and every one of them, preserving the 0-0 tie through the majority of the game.

Anna Carmen (Lutsen, Minn. / Lutsen) eventually managed to break through Hamline's Jamie Hathaway, scoring the first goal of the game at 1:44 in the third quarter, giving St. Kate's a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, three minutes later, Bre Simon tied the game with her MIAC leading 16^th goal of the season, making it 1-1 with 15 minutes remaining in regulation.

Neither team could score again in the remaining minutes of the period, despite multiple power play chances for both the Pipers and Wildcats. After regulation ended with the score still knotted 1-1, and extra overtime period was needed to determine the winner, already guaranteeing one point for St. Kate's in the conference standings.

Both goalies continued their outstanding play in the overtime period, as they kept shot after shot out of their respective net. Because of that, it looked like the game would remain deadlocked 1-1 at the end of the overtime, resulting in a tie. However, with 20 seconds remaining, Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) took the puck and drilled it behind a diving Hathaway, securing the 2-1 victory for the Wildcats.

White faced a career high 50 shots in the victory and gave up just one goal, making it her best outing of the season. Muller scored her team leading ninth goal, and Carmen scored her third of the season.

With the win, St. Kate's overall record improves to 8-13-2 and the team now holds a 4-10-2 mark in MIAC play. The Wildcats have also defeated four of the top six teams in the conference this season, making them one of the only teams in the MIAC to do so this season.

St. Kate's will return to the rink on Friday, when it hosts Saint Mary's University at 7 p.m. in Drake Arena. The game will also serve as Senior Night, as it will be the Wildcats final home game of the regular season.