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| St. Olaf | MIAC | Friday Live Blog |
Grand Ole Day: The College of Saint Benedict hockey team (5-7-3 overall, 3-7-1 MIAC) hosts conference opponent St. Olaf (9-8-2 overall, 5-6-1 MIAC) for a home-home split series starting Feb. 8. The series kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at the MAC and Saint Benedict will be wearing red for its Go Red for Heart Disease campaign.
About St. Olaf: St. Olaf has been in a slump in the last few games. The Oles finished last weekend with their first win in five games, coming against Augsburg at home in a 6-1 victory. They are currently tied for fifth in the conference standings and need to pick up a few points to keep its playoff hopes alive. They finished fifth in the MIAC last season and were again picked for a fifth place tally in the preseason poll this year. Before their recent slump they had rattled off five straight wins and were 6-1-1 over an eight-game stretch. The do have firepower up front, with the league's top-two scorers in Margot Fleming and Nicole Stumpf who each have 21 points on the year. Stumpf is also the MIAC goals leader with 15 on the year.
The Storyline: Saint Benedict will head into this weekend with only three series left in its 2012-13 campaign. The Blazers are not mathematically out of the playoffs yet and will need to win out and get some help from other teams to secure a playoff berth. CSB has shown improvement as the season has progressed and with six games left to go, as already tied last season's mark for wins and MIAC wins.
Last Meeting: The two teams squared off for a non-conference tilt back in early November, with the game ending in a 1-1 overtime tie.
Ashley Olson scored the Blazers' lone goal, while
Jenna Traut was stellar in net stopping 35 of 36 shots. The last time they met in conference play, however, was Feb. 10-11, 2012. Saint Benedict picked up the first game with a
2-1 win at home, but were unable to get the sweep in St. Olaf, dropping game two
3-1.
Who to Watch: Junior Allyson Nielsen is leading the Blazers on the attack with nine points. Nielsen is tied for first on the team in goals with sophomore
Megan Brettingen and second in assists with four. Sophomore
Alli O'Brien leads CSB with five assists and is just one point behind Nielsen. Sophomore goaltender
Jenna Traut has been playing well in net for the Blazers. She currently leads the MAIC with a .946 save percentage, and is third with a 1.56 goals against average.
Last Time Out: The last time the Blazers took the ice was last weekend in Winona, Minn. as they faced off with Saint Mary's. Saint Benedict split the series with the Cardinals, dropping the first game 4-0 before earning their fourth shutout of the season with the 2-0 game two win. The Blazers did not record a single shutout last season.
