ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Catherine University women's soccer team celebrated Senior Day with a 4-1 victory over Augsburg University on Saturday afternoon at St. Kate's Field. The Wildcats improved to 12-3-1 overall and 8-1-1 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play.
Prior to the match, St. Catherine honored its four seniors, Katie McGrath, Bella Meier, Kylee Newes, and Ali Owens, recognizing their contributions to the program.
Owens highlighted the Senior Day celebration with a goal and an assist, helping the Wildcats secure their eighth conference victory of the season.
St. Catherine wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as Owens netted her second goal of the season in the 10th minute off an assist from Ceci Emery to give the Wildcats an early 1-0 advantage.
The Wildcats controlled the opening half, outshooting Augsburg 14-0 while forcing Auggies goalkeeper Claire Smothers to make seven saves. St. Catherine carried its one-goal lead into halftime.
The Wildcats extended their advantage in the 53rd minute when Elyse Snortum found the back of the net for her third goal of the season, assisted by Owens.
St. Catherine continued its offensive pressure in the 68th minute as Jaidyn Richter scored her second goal of the season off a feed from Emma Boys, pushing the lead to 3-0.
Just over six minutes later, Natalie Barnes added her second goal of the season in the 74th minute, with Emily Henaman providing the assist to give St. Catherine a commanding 4-0 lead.
Augsburg avoided the shutout in the 83rd minute when Amalia Lee scored an unassisted goal, bringing the final score to 4-1.
St. Catherine finished the afternoon with a 24-2 advantage in shots, including a 14-2 edge in shots on goal. Meier led the Wildcats with seven shots, while McGrath and Charlotte Willems added three apiece.
In goal, Brianna Valdez played all 90 minutes and recorded one save to earn the victory. Smothers finished with 10 saves for Augsburg.
The Senior Day victory marked another strong conference performance for St. Catherine, which has now recorded eight MIAC wins this season. All four seniors appeared in the match, with Owens contributing directly to two of the Wildcats' four goals.
St. Kate's will travel to River Falls, Wisconsin on Wednesday, October 28 facing the Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons and close out the regular season on Saturday, October 31 against Concordia College in Moorhead.
The Wildcats earned their way back to the MIAC Playoff clinching a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed and will host the winner of the quarterfinal playoff game on Thursday, November 5 at 2 pm.
