ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Catherine University hockey team entered Saturday's game against the College of Saint Benedict looking to score its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win in February. Unfortunately, St. Kate's will have to wait another week for that win, as the team fell to Saint Ben's by a score of 3-2 in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Allie Guzy (Blaine, Minn. / Spring Lake Park) got things started off on the right foot for the Wildcats, with a goal at 7:47 in the first period. Guzy's third goal of the season gave St. Kate's a 1-0 lead, which the team was looking to hold behind strong play from senior goalie Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn. / Forest Lake). Unfortunately, the Blazers managed to tie the game at 13:31, as Courtney Conlin managed to sneak the puck past White to tie the game 1-1.

After the first period ended in a 1-1 tie, the Wildcats looked to regain the lead with a quick goal in the second. Unfortunately, nearly seven minutes passed before either team was able to score. Even worse, the team that did finally manage to break through the goalie for a second time was Saint Ben's. Elli Marvin scored her league-leading 14^th goal of the season, putting the Blazers up 2-1.

Fortunately, there were still 13 minutes remaining in the period, which left plenty of time for St. Kate's to tie the game. However, three minutes passed, and the Wildcats were unable to score. Then, at 16:59, St. Kate's found itself a skater short, as Tori Gruett (Woodbury, Minn. / B.E Emerson) was sent to the penalty box for interference. With just over 30 seconds remaining, it looked like the Wildcats had successfully killed the penalty, before Shelby Schnieder scored to give the Blazers a 3-1 lead.

This season, though, St. Kate's has proved time and time again that it can overcome just about any adversity in any game, including a two-goal deficit. However, the clock continued to wind down in the third period, and the Wildcats were still unable to get the puck past Julia Carle. With less than three minutes remaining in regulation and the score still 3-1, head coach Brad Marshall pulled White for an extra skater. It proved to be a smart move for St. Kate's, as Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen) scored to get the Wildcats back within one of Saint Ben's lead.

After the goal, Marshall kept White off the ice for the extra skater advantage for the remainder of the game. St. Kate's skaters continued to pepper Carle with shots, and several times it seemed as though someone had hit the game-tying-goal. Sadly, Carle and the Blazer defense made save after save, resulting in the 3-2 loss.

White faced 20 shots in the game and made 17 saves in roughly 56 minutes of work, while Guzy and Tentis scored the only goals for St. Kate's. The Wildcats were 0-4 on the power play while Saint Ben's was 1-2.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 7-12-2 and its mark in conference play stands at 3-9-2. The Wildcats will return to the ice next weekend for a home-and-home series against the Hamline Pipers, who are currently second in the MIAC standings. The first game is at 7 p.m. at Drake Arena on Friday.