ST. PAUL, MINN. – It's crunch time for the St. Catherine University hockey team. Thanks to a January surge, the Wildcats find themselves competing for the fifth and final spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) postseason tournament. Over the weekend, St. Kate's will look to make a move in the standings, as it takes on Augsburg University in a two-game series Friday and Saturday.
With just four games remaining in the regular season, every goal is critical for the Wildcats, who are looking to make their first MIAC playoff appearance since the 2013-14 season. Live stats and video will be available for Friday evening's 7 p.m. game in Minneapolis and score updates can be found on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats).
On Saturday, the Wildcats will host the Auggies at 6 p.m. at Drake Arena. Live stats will be available and score updates can be found on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats).
Here are the five things to know before the big weekend series:
17/11 – Both St. Kate's and Augsburg are trying to clinch a spot in the MIAC postseason this weekend. As it stand, the Auggies are currently in third place with 17 total points thanks to their 7-4-3 record in conference play. The Wildcats, on the other hand, are currently in sixth place with 11 total points and a record of 5-8-1 against MIAC opponents.
.929 – St. Kate's success this weekend will rely heavily on the pads of senior goalie Kristen Pechacek (Park Falls, Wis. / Chequamegon). Despite missing two series in the month of January, the senior goalie ranks third in the conference in save percentage (.929) and is second overall with 431 saves. She, along with first year goalie Bryce Boreen (Cottage Grove, Minn. / Park-Cottage Grove) have faced 670 total shots this season, including 468 in MIAC play.
.918 – Augsburg's goalie Rebecca Sonnek is no slouch either. Like Pechacek, the Auggie goalie ranks in the top five in the conference in save percentage (.923), goals against average (1.91) and goals against (22) this season. However, those are Sonnek's overall numbers. In conference play, the goalie gives up an average of 2.02 goals per game and has a save percentage of just .918.
1 – Juniors Laken Muller (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) and Tori Thompson (Rochester, Minn. / John Marshall) are no strangers to scoring against Augsburg. Both players scored the Wildcats two goals in the series last season, Thompson's a slap shot on the road, and Muller's a breakaway at home. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was swept in the series, as the Auggies won both games by a score of 2-1.
17 – Although the Wildcats have only scored a combined 20 goals in the first and third periods of games this season, they've scored 17 in the second period alone. St. Kate's goalies, though, have also seen a long of action in the second period of games, as Pechacek, Boreen and Kelsey Miller (Rochester, Minn. / Century) have faced 220 shots in that same period.
