STEVENS POINT, WIS. – The St. Catherine University hockey team was on quite the run recently. The Wildcats had not lost a game since January 6, having won three of their last four contests against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents. Unfortunately, St. Kate's saw its non-losing streak come to an end Tuesday evening, as the team lost a nonconference game to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 1-0.
The first period ended in a 0-0 draw, as neither the Wildcats nor Pointers managed to score. Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) continued her strong season for St. Kate's, making nine saves in the opening period of play.
It was a different story early in the second period. The Wildcats spent most of the second period in the Pointers zone, as they peppered starting goalie Marit Larson with several shots in the first five minutes. Unfortunately, it was UW-Stevens Point that struck first, as Maddie Schlossmacher scored on a breakaway opportunity to give the Pointers a 1-0 lead over St. Kate's. Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn't answer with a goal of their own, and the second period closed with UW-Stevens Point leading 1-0.
The third period sadly yielded the same results for St. Kate's, as the Pointers stingy defense kept the Wildcats from penetrating the blue line for most of the period. Even in the final minute, St. Kate's was unable to skate past the Stevens Point blue line. However, with 29 seconds remaining on the clock, Brede Postier (Byron, Minn. / Dodge County) finally managed to break through the Pointers defenses and sent a searing shot in Larson's direction. That sparked a frenzy in the final seconds, as the Wildcats did everything they could to even the score. With four seconds remaining in regulation, Anna Carman's (Lutsen, Minn. / Cook County) shot bounced over Larson as two Pointers collided at the net to screen the goalie. Sara Brakke (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo) picked up the bouncing shot and sent it to the net, but Larson made the diving last second save, resulting in the 1-0 loss for St. Kate's.
"[Pechacek] was the best player on the ice for both teams tonight," head coach Brad Marshall commented after the shutout loss. "We were missing that jump and tenacity tonight, and we need to correct that before this weekend's series [against Saint Ben's]."
Pechacek was nearly flawless in goal for the Wildcats, making 23 saves on 24 UW-Stevens Point shots.
With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 4-12-1 and the team holds a 3-6-1 record in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to the ice on Friday for the first of a two game series against the College of Saint Benedict. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
