Women's Hockey 12/5/08 -- St. Catherine 5, Augsburg 1

MINNEAPOLIS (12/5/08) -- Aryn Ball (JR, Bemidji, Minn.) had a hat trick and added an assist for a four-point night, and Jessica Kniefel (SO, Owatonna, Minn.) scored two goals and added an assist for a three-point night, as the College of St. Catherine scored a 5-1 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's hockey game Friday night at the Augsburg Ice Arena.

Suzie Kuehnast (SO, Willmar, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary's HS) had two assists for St. Catherine (3-4-1 overall, 1-2-0 MIAC), which scored two goals in a seven-second span in the first 1:22 of play.

Kali Holst (FY, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) scored the lone goal of the game for Augsburg (0-7-0 overall, 0-5-0 MIAC), on a shorthanded, unassisted tally at the 7:14 mark of the first period. Holst now has a team-high four goals this season.

St. Catherine outshot Augsburg by a 22-5 margin in the first period, building a 3-1 lead. However, Augsburg outshot St. Catherine by a 25-17 margin over the final two periods. Toni Menth (JR, Buffalo, Minn.) made 34 saves for the Auggies, while Mel Gerten (SO, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) had 23 saves in 51 minutes for St. Catherine, with Erica Pitzen (FY, Pine City, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) had six saves in nine minutes.

The teams complete the MIAC series on Saturday (12/6) at 7:05 p.m., at the University of Minnesota's Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.