NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season with a 4-1 defeat to St. Catherine University in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.

St. Catherine (5-2-0, 2-0-0 MIAC) scored twice in each half to hand St. Olaf (6-1-1, 1-1-0 MIAC) its first loss and snap the Oles' seven-game unbeaten streak to begin the season. The Oles entered the game having only conceded one goal in their first seven games of the season in their longest unbeaten streak to start a season since 2011.

Senior Mia Van der Heide and sophomore Emily Johnson both had opportunities to score in the first 10 minutes for St. Olaf, but Kate Praetz stopped both efforts in goal for St. Kate's. The Wildcats turned the tide in the final 15 minutes of the opening half, getting goals just over four minutes apart from Claire Cater and Ari Green to take a 2-0 lead into the halftime interval.

Cater put the visitors on top in the 32nd minute with a long-range shot that found the top-left corner. A little over four minutes later, Green converted a penalty kick after a St. Olaf defender was judged to have taken down a St. Kate's attacker on a ball played into the box.

Early in the second half, sophomore Clara Luger kept the Oles in the game by making a close-range save to deny Cater her second goal of the game. St. Olaf pulled to within a goal in the 61st minute when Johnson tallied her fourth goal of the season by scoring from in front after junior Katie Beaudry knocked down a corner kick from junior Cat Duffy-Shaw.

Down by just one, the Oles pushed for a tying goal and were inches away from one in the 73rd minute when first year Avery Sames hit the crossbar after a free kick was not cleared by the St. Kate's defense. The Wildcats hit the woodwork themselves five minutes later through Natalie Pfleger before Lydia Benson and Green scored in the final 12-plus minutes to seal the victory for the visitors.

St. Olaf held advantages of 22-16 in shots and 10- 6 in shots on goal in the game, but Praetz made nine saves to limit the Oles to one goal.

The Oles will look to start another unbeaten streak when the head to Duluth to face the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m.