STEVENS POINT, WIS. – The weather outside may be a little frightful but it won't stop the St. Catherine University hockey team from traveling Tuesday evening. The Wildcats are set to take on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 6 p.m. Tuesday night in what will be their final nonconference game of the 2017-18 season.
St. Kate's enters Tuesday evening's contest riding high, having won three of its last four games against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents. The Wildcats are also looking for their first win against a team from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) this season, having lost to UW-Eau Claire in mid-December.
Fans who can't make the trip to Wisconsin can follow the team online via
live stats and
video. Score updated can also be found on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats).
Here are the five things to know before Tuesday's 6 p.m. puck drop:
18 – St. Kate's has scored 18 goals in its last four games, four more than the entire team scored in the first half of the season. After scoring 11 goals against St. Olaf two weeks ago, the Wildcats tallied seven in their two-game series against Saint Mary's last weekend in the 3-3 draw and 4-3 victory.
4 – A huge part of St. Kate's scoring success recently has been junior forward
Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley). Muller has tallied at least one point in the last four games and scored at least one goal in all but one. More impressively, the junior has tallied at least one point in every game the Wildcats have won this season, including the season opening 3-1 win over Finlandia back in October.
2 – First year forward
Emilee Anderson (Chanhassen, Minn. / Chanhassen) has also been spectacular in the last four games for St. Kate's. Since scoring the first goal of her collegiate career against Sacred Heart, Anderson has gone on a scoring rampage, scoring five goals in the series against the Oles and Cardinals. Currently, the first year is second on the team in goals (6) and tied for second in points (9).
6:13 – The Wildcats currently rank second in the MIAC in penalty minutes, as they've accumulated 86 penalty minutes in 16 games this season. The team they are facing, UW-Stevens Point, is one of the cleanest women's hockey teams in the WIAC. Currently, the Pointers average just 6:13 minutes in the penalty box, the lowest average in the WIAC so far this season.
1-1-1 – UW-Steven's Point played three games in four days last weekend and completed a near trifecta. The Pointers won one game, lost one game, and tied one game. The tie may have been the most thrilling of the week, as UW-Stevens Point shutout nationally ranked UW-River Falls to earn the 0-0 draw. Goalie Sydney Conley made 55 saves in the game against one of the top teams DIII hockey.