St. Catherine 5, Yellowjackets 2

ST. PAUL, Minn.: The start to the 2018-19 season hasn't gone as expected for the Yellowjacket women's hockey team.

After dropping a pair of close contests at home over the past week, the Yellowjackets took to the road looking to pick up their first win of the campaign as they took on St. Catherine in St. Paul. The brief road trip didn't change the Yellowjackets' fortunes, and they'll have to wait another day to get their first victory of the year.

St. Catherine scored four times in the second period on the way to a 5-2 win over the Yellowjackets Friday.

The Yellowjackets opened the scoring in this one, getting the first goal of the season from Molly Shelton (Pine Island, Minn./Pine Island) just past the midpoint of the first period to make it 1-0. The goal was unassisted.

It stayed that way through the end of the period, but the Wildcats got the equalizer just 1:21 into the second period on a goal from Brede Postier. The score wasn't tied for long, however, as the Yellowjackets answered when Mandy Tomlinson (Waupaca, Wis./Waupaca) scored her first goal of the year just 10 seconds later, getting assists from Myka Sutherland (Champlin, Minn./Home School) and C.C. Hayes (Fort Frances, Ontario/Fort Frances).

From there it was all Wildcats. Emilee Anderson tied the score once again at 3:50, and Torii Thomas put St. Kate's ahead for good at 5:55 of the period. MacKenzie Ess added another goal before the end of the period to give St. Kate's a 4-1 lead. Tori Thompson added another goal in the third period to make the final score 5-2.

Catherine Johnson (Lakeville, Minn./St. Paul Academy) made her third straight start in goal for the Yellowjackets, and she finished with 23 saves.

Up Next: The Yellowjackets (0-3-0, 0-0-0 W.I.A.C.) and Wildcats will do battle again Saturday afternoon. The opening face-off is set for 2:00 p.m., this time at Wessman Arena in Superior.