Box Score
The St. Catherine University soccer team knew heading into Saturday's match up against Saint Benedict that coming up with a win would be tough.
 
Despite outshooting the Blazers and a late game goal to pull within one, the Wildcats fell 2-1 to Saint Benedict in a tough Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) contest on a cold day in St. Joseph.
 
“It was a great game,” said Head Coach Chris Citowicki. “We held our own against the best offense in the conference and even managed to outshoot them in the end.”
 
The Wildcats came out with a 9-8 advantage in shots, but the Blazers managed to make two of their three shots on goal count in a big way as the Blazers took an early lead and never gave it up.
 
“The goals we gave up were sloppy, but it's just a part of the growing process with a team that is (a majority first-years),” said Citowicki.
 
One first-year who came up big for the Wildcats was Grace Lowry (Minneapolis, Minn.) who recorded her first collegiate point as she set up Christina Paik (Beaverton, Ore.) for the Wildcats' lone goal.
 
The Blazers jumped out to an early lead in the 27th minute and built upon that lead with a goal late in the second half to go up 2-0. Paik managed to pull the Wildcats within one, scoring her sixth goal of the season with less than four minutes to play. However, it wasn't enough for the Wildcats to come up with the win.
 
“It hurts to lose the way we did,” said Citowicki, “but looking at the big picture, I couldn't be more delighted with the progress we are making.”
 
Paik and Lensa Gurmessa (Minneapolis, Minn.) both finished the day with three shots a piece, while Elena Jimenez (Eagan, Minn.) had two and Liesl Wolf (Minnetonka, Minn.) had one.
 
The Wildcats are now 7-5 on the season and 2-4 in MIAC play and return to action Saturday, Oct. 13 against Saint Mary's at home for a 1 p.m.,  start time.
 
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