The University of Wisconsin Superior could not secure a winning homestand, falling 3-1 to St. Catherine University in game one of the teams' home-and-home series on Friday night at Wessman Arena in Superior.

UW-Superior (1-3-0) significantly out-shot the Wildcats on the night, 31-12, but could not get enough bounces to fall their way.

St Kate's (2-1-0) held the advantage after a rather quiet first period, with the two teams combining for just nine shots in a period that took just 25 minutes in real time. Like the baseball cliche of a "seeing-eye" hit that gets through the defense, Natalie West ripped a shot from the blue line that bounded through the Yellowjacket defense and over the shoulder of goaltender Sky Brown (Lenore, Man./Virden Collegiate Institute) to put the Wildcats up 1-0 through one. Erika Vallier and Sara Brakke each added an assist on the play. Despite the one-goal deficit, the Yellowjackets held a 6-3 lead in shots after one.

Vallier added a goal of her own for St. Kate's, this time of the more conventional variety, banging home a rebound at 7:26 in the second, getting assists from Natalie West and Tori Thompson on the play to put St. Kate's up by a pair. Junior forward Lexie Weiss (Sleepy Eye, Minn./New Ulm H.S.) was responsible for both of the UW-Superior's best chances in the opening two frames, but each time, she was turned away by the Wildcats' Kristen Pechacek.

Penalties came back to bite the Yellowjackets early in the third with St. Kate's getting a chance with a 5-on-3 advantage and made good as Lexi Muller knocked in a puck during a scrum in front of the net, getting assists from Vallier and Karly Nelson. After a great look that saw her unable to settle a bouncing puck in front of the net moments before, senior forward Hailey Adair (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park H.S.) got a second chance with 4:34 to go and buried it, getting UW-Superior on the board with an assist from senior forward Amanda Coey (Brandon, Man./Crocus Plains H.S.). The Wildcats' Jordan Solheim tacked on an empty net score at 18:49 after the Yellowjackets pulled Brown for an extra skater with 1:31 remaining.

Brown finished with eight saves for the Yellowjackets, while Pecachek made 30 stops for St. Kate's. UW-Superior was 0-for-3 on the powerplay while the Wildcats were 1-for-3.

UP NEXT
The Yellowjackets will continue their series against St. Catherine on Saturday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota.