NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The St. Olaf College women's soccer team dropped its regular-season finale, 2-0, to St. Catherine University in a matchup of regionally-ranked teams on Saturday afternoon at Rolf Mellby Field.
 
Both teams entered the day knowing a victory would clinch the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season title, but Natalie Pfleger scored two second-half goals to lift St. Kate's (16-2-0, 10-1-0 MIAC) to the conference crown. St. Olaf (14-2-2, 8-1-2) fell to the No. 3 seed in next week's MIAC Playoffs with the loss after being shut out for just the second time all season.
 
As the No. 3 seed in the six-team field, the Oles will host sixth-seed Saint Mary's University in the quarterfinals on Monday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m.
 
St. Kate's came the closest to opening the scoring in the first half when Briana Henaman got a look at goal from close range, but first year Charlotte Percy got down to tip the shot onto the post and the ball bounced back into Percy's arms.
 
St. Olaf had its best scoring change of the day just four minutes into the second half, but senior Megan Timmerman hit the woodwork with a looping shot from near the top of the box. Less than two minutes later, the Wildcats got the game's opening goal from Pfleger, who turned in a cross from Henaman on the right wing to break the deadlock.
 
Pfleger made it 2-0 to the visitors in the 66th minute with a shot from outside the box that evaded Percy. St. Kate's goalkeeper Brianna Valdez made a full-extension diving save down low to deny senior Marit Klagge in the 74th minute to help preserve the shutout.
 
St. Olaf held slender edges in shots (15-11) and shots on goal (6-4) in the game and had seven corner kicks to St. Kate's two. Valdez stopped all six shots she faced for the Wildcats, while Percy had two saves for the Oles.