St. Paul, Minn. – The Bethel University women's soccer team lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to St. Catherine University on Tuesday afternoon in St. Paul. Play remained scoreless after the first 74 minutes, but it was St. Kate's that broke the silence on a game-winning goal with just over 15 minutes of play remaining.

BU came out of the gates looking for their first MIAC win and strung together several scoring opportunities early before the Wildcats defense took over the game. The Royals and SCU battled through the remainder of the first half that saw five shots from Bethel and seven shots from St. Catherine.

The defensive struggle would carry deep into the second half. With just over 15 minutes left in the game Gabby Scundi scored for the Wildcats on a pass from Elly Leyva. St Kate's defense didn't let up, as they held the Royals scoreless for the remainder of the contest. BU struggled on offense as they were outshot 2-7 in the second half.

Mikala Smith led Bethel's offense with one shot-on-goal in two attempts. Julia Perkins and Mikayla Jorgensen both had one shot-on-goal. Jess Gapinski recorded four saves and only allowed one goal. As a team the Wildcats outshot the Royals 14-7 with 5 shots on goal, while the Royals only attained three shots on goal.

The Royals drop to 3-10 overall and 0-7 in the MIAC. Bethel will travel to St. Peter, Minn., to take on Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday for another MIAC contest. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.