Steven DeBus, Piper head coach of women’s hockey, looked forward to the past weekend’s two game series against St. Catherine; he predicted both games would “come down to the wire.”

“I think we match up well against St. Kate’s,” DeBus said. “[They are] games that can go either way; our message is ‘let’s just give ourselves a chance and put ourselves in a [position] to get points.’ I think it’s certainly realistic and obtainable, but we are going to have to get the small, little things right.”

The Pipers did just that last Friday. They kept the game tied at one until the last five minutes of the third period.

Prior to the game, DeBus said both games would be hard fought and undecided right until the end.

“I bet both games will come down to the wire,” he said. “I think they are both going to be 60 minute games where you’re going to need 60 minutes…I think [each game] will be hard fought.”

St. Kate’s scored early in the first period, however, the Pipers stepped up their game as the defense managed to keep the opposition shutdown until the third. The Pipers scored in the second period to tie the game at one. Senior Corinne Henning recorded the goal assisted by junior Jordan Verleye.

In the third period, with fewer than five minutes remaining, St. Kate’s attacked the Pipers net. Junior goaltender Sam Stark deflected a shot with her left leg, but the puck ricocheted to the opposition.

Before Stark could stretch out her right leg to deflect the second attempt, the puck hit the back of the net, which put St. Kate’s up 2-1 with 4:41 remaining.

With 1.5 seconds remaining, the Pipers were in St. Kate’s territory. They won the faceoff with a quick pass to Henning. Her slap shot was on target, but the opposing goalie was there to stop it.

The Pipers lost 2-1, and looked for redemption the next day at Drake Arena.

Before the game, DeBus said he wanted his team to offensively seize opportunities when they can capitalize on their opponents’ mistakes.

“[I want us to] be a team that takes advantages of opportunities that we make ourselves and take advantage of our opponent’s mistakes,” he said.

When St. Kate’s was on the penalty kill the Pipers capitalized with a goal by Verleye, assisted by Henning and sophomore Jenny Magill to cut the Pipers deficit to one. With the momentum on their side, the Pipers were able to score another goal to tie the game at two. This time Magill found first-year Jaci Reinke for the score. After a scoreless overtime, the game resulted into a tie. The Pipers had earned their first point of the season in the MIAC.

DeBus said the returners from last year have progressed well and he thinks they’re much better than they were last year at this point.

“I like the direction that we are continuing to move [in]. I appreciate the players’ enthusiasm [and] their energy. I think their ‘want factor’ has dramatically risen,” he said.

The Pipers next series will be against Gustavus as they will host them on Friday Nov. 22 before making their road trip the following day.

The Pipers are 0-3-1 but will be coming off of a tie, which will hopefully fuel some momentum.

However, DeBus doesn’t see the Pipers record as a true portrayal to his athlete’s character.

“On paper in the win loss column I don’t think it’s been a true reflection of the program,” he said. “I don’t think it accurately portrays the sacrifices some [athletes] have made [and] what this program means to them. The standings don’t reflect that, it doesn’t reflect what they’ve done and shown. And I believe that wholeheartedly.”

This year with the improvement of the returners and the team’s competitive play, DeBus said there’s one thing he wants to see from it.

“I want to see them get rewarded for their efforts,” he said.