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HANCOCK - An excellent first start in goal by Finlandia's Rachel Bochiechio was not enough to spur the Lions to victory Sunday against St. Catherine.

St. Kate's Michaela Michaelson snuck two power-play goals behind the freshman goalie and the Wildcats added an empty-netter and nullified Finlandia's offense to claim a 3-0 non-conference women's hockey win.

St. Kate's defeated Finlandia 5-1 Saturday for a weekend sweep.

"We struggled yesterday (Saturday), not moving at all. (Sunday), we were moving (the puck) well, we just couldn't connect the passes," Finlandia coach Heather Reinke said.

Bochiechio, one of four goaltenders on the Lions' roster, made several big saves throughout the first half of the game to keep it scoreless. She finished with 21 saves.

"I think she stepped up nicely to the challenge," Reinke said.

Michaelson and St. Kate's finally broke through when she deflected a shot behind Bochiechio at 10:53 of the second period. She added her second goal on a shot from the right face-off circle at 13:39 of the third.

Finlandia (3-10) just couldn't generate the offense to keep up. The Lions were credited with four shots in both the first and second periods and none in the third.

Cassie Vennemann added an empty-netter with 2:33 to go.

Despite the shutout, Reinke was pleased with her team's improvement after a lethargic first game back from Christmas break Saturday.

"Our team actually wanted to go at them. We didn't want to sit back and watch," she said.

Kayla Lange had the shutout, with eight saves.

Saturday, St. Kate's rudely welcomed Finlandia to the 2010 portion of its schedule, as Cassie Rooney scored just 15 seconds into the game.

Michaelson added a goal with 2:56 left in the frame to make it 2-0, but the Lions held the score there until St. Kate's scored back-to-back goals early in the third period.

Dana Dillon pulled a power-play goal back for Finlandia at 7:18 of the period before one more tally from the Wildcats finished the scoring.

Casey Fiore took the loss for Finlandia, making 23 saves.

Mel Gerten was the winning goalie, making 13 saves in slightly more than two periods before Lange made two stops in mop-up duty.

Finlandia returns to action with a non-conference home series Friday and Saturday against Augsburg. Both games are at 1 p.m.

Brandon Veale can be reached at bveale@mininggazette.com.