ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team kicks off the 2016-17 season Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28-29, when it hosts Northland College in a nonconference weekend series.
 
CSB enters this season looking to improve on its 7-15-3 overall finish and 5-10-3 MIAC finish from 2015-16. Saint Benedict picked up a handful of big conference wins last season – CSB swept No. 4 St. Thomas, marking the first sweep of the Tommies since 1999-2000, and beat and tied No. 9 Gustavus – but ended the year eighth in the league and missed a berth in the conference tournament. Saint Benedict was picked to finish eighth again this season in the MIAC preseason poll, which was released Thursday.
 
The wins against ranked teams has become a trend for CSB, which is now 3-0-1 against Gustavus in the last two seasons. CSB is also 3-1 against the Tommies in the last two seasons, and both teams have been nationally ranked each time they have played.
 
Head coach Jen Kranz, who enters her sixth season at the helm in 2016-17, returns several of her top offensive threats from last season. Senior Elli Marvin and junior Brigette Miller are back after finishing the year with a team-high 16 points. Marvin finished sixth in the league with 11 goals, and Miller led the team with seven assists. Allison Kirk also returns after recording four assists and three goals.
 
Back in net for CSB this season is sophomore Angel Hillstrom, who ended her first year with the school record for save percentage in a season at .929. She went 6-8-2 in net and recorded 522 saves, and played more than 1,000 minutes.
 
Saint Benedict has a veteran defensive line that includes seniors Katie Cristan, Hannah Esselman, Beth Hinkemeyer, Maddie Rainey and Kacee Medved, as well as junior Alexis Klatt and sophomore Kylie Eklund.
 
This weekend's series marks the first-ever varsity hockey game for Northland, which announced it was adding women's hockey in May 2015. After hosting the Lumberjills at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday, CSB is off until Nov. 11-12 when it opens MIAC play and hosts Concordia in a pair of neutral-site games. Saint Benedict plays the Cobbers at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in Sartell, Minn., and at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, in Alexandria, Minn.
 
CSB takes on Gustavus Dec. 2-3, and looks for another win against the Tommies Jan. 27-28, 2017.