ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The St. Catherine University hockey team made a pushed late and brought the home crowd to its feet Friday night inside Drake Arena, but a third-period surge wasn't enough to erase St. Olaf's mid-game separation as the Wildcats fell 3–2 in a tightly contested MIAC matchup.

St. Olaf opened the scoring at 15:25 of the first period, but St. Kate's struck back just seconds before intermission. With :15 on the clock, Rhiannon Ashworth buried the equalizer off a feed from Paige Loidolt and Isabella Brady, sending the Wildcats to the locker room tied 1–1 and carrying momentum.

The second period leaned the other direction. Despite strong zone time from SCU, the Oles capitalized on two even-strength looks — one at 5:25 and another at 13:04 — to take a 3–1 lead through 40 minutes. St. Catherine generated pressure in the offensive end, out-attempting St. Olaf for stretches, but couldn't convert during a flurry of chances.

In the third, the Wildcats pushed the pace and controlled possession, out-shooting the Oles 9–5. After a late timeout with 2:19 to play, St. Kate's pulled the goalie and struck. Loidolt scored with the extra attacker at 18:02, cutting the deficit to one and igniting the bench. The Wildcats kept the net empty twice more and continued to press, but were stalled in the final seconds. 
 
Addie Oettinger made 20 saves in 58:14 of work, including 10 in a heavy second-period stretch. St. Kate's will return to action after the new year hosting Wisconsin River Falls at 7 pm at Drake Arena.