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xdth
Kristen Pechacek made 35 saves in her final start as a Wildcat goalie.
0
St. Catherine Univ. SCU 3-13-0
1
Winner Bethel University BU 4-3-1
St. Catherine Univ. SCU
3-13-0
0
Final
1
Bethel University BU
4-3-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 F
St. Catherine Univ. SCU 0 0 0 0 0
Bethel University BU 0 0 0 1 1

Game Recap: Hockey |

Hockey loses OT heartbreaker 1-0

BLAINE, MINN. – For the St. Catherine University hockey team, there was only one way to end the 2017-18 season: with a win over the Bethel University Royals. The Wildcats came close in Friday's series opener, dropping a closely contested game 2-1 at Drake Arena. On Saturday, it looked like St. Kate's was going to leave Blaine, Minnesota with, at the very least, an overtime 0-0 tie. Sadly, Bethel scored in the initial 33 seconds of the overtime period, resulting in the 1-0 Bethel win.

"It was a really good college hockey game," head coach Brad Marshall said after the final buzzer. "Both goalies played well. We had chances and Bethel had chances throughout the game."

Neither team was able to capitalize on any of the chances Marshall talked about due to the outstanding play of both the Wildcat and Royal goalies. In her final game in a St. Kate's jersey, Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon) faced 35 shots in regulation and made 35 saves, one of her best games of the 2017-18 season. The senior goalie did let one slip past her though in the opening seconds of overtime, as Briita Nelson scored her second goal of the series to clinch the 1-0 lead for Bethel.

The Wildcats were also playing with a short bench Saturday afternoon, as both Morgan Tentis (Victoria, Minn. / Chanhassen) and Allie Guzy (Blaine, Minn. / Silver Lake) were out due to injury. However, St. Kate's battled despite the unsavory conditions and nearly capitalized on all four of its power play opportunities. Sadly, the Wildcats were unable to score in regulation and couldn't beat the Royals to the punch in overtime.

With the loss, St. Kate's ends the season with a 6-18-1 overall record and a 5-12-1 mark in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. Pechacek will graduate as one of the most successful goalies in program history, while the three other seniors, Sara Brakke (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo), Karly Nelson (East Grand Forks, Minn. / East Grand Forks) and Anna Carman (Lutsen, Minn. / Cook County) all leave their own lasting legacies with Wildcat hockey.

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