ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team returns to conference action this week against St. Olaf. The Blazers welcome the Oles Thursday Jan. 12, in St. Cloud at 7:30, then travel to Northfield for round two on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m.

About St. Olaf

St. Olaf is 3-9 overall and 1-5 in the MIAC heading into this week's matchup. The last time the Oles played, they lost 1-0 to UW-Eau Claire on Jan. 4. Jane Vezina leads the team with four goals and five points, and Xandi Swedberg has four assists. Cassie Alexander leads the Oles in net with 149 saves and a .914 save percentage in six appearances this season. The Oles have struggled to score this year with 1.36 goals per game and are 4-for-60 on the power play

Last Year

CSB beat the Oles twice last season. On Jan. 15 in Northfield, the Blazers won 5-2, thanks to five unanswered goals from CSB. In St. Cloud on Jan. 16, CSB won 3-2 in an improbable three-goal, third-period comeback. The Blazers scored two goals in the final 1:02 of the third period to get the win. In the two games, Elli Marvin had four goals and two assists and Brigette Miller had a goal and assist.

Who to Watch

Julia Carle leads the team with 203 saves and a .914 save percentage through eight appearances. Senior forward Elli Marvin currently leads the MIAC with 18 points and 11 goals, and is still fifth in all of Division III with an average of .92 goals per game. Brigette Miller and Stephanie Kirk both have six assists this season.

The Storyline

After winning two games to start the season and scoring 22 goals in its first four games, CSB's offense has slowed down. The team snapped a seven-game losing streak in its last game of 2016 with a 2-1 win over Concordia University Wisconsin on Dec. 10, but dropped a pair of nonconference games last weekend at its home tournament. Both teams head into the series looking for a win or two to get back on track, and CSB is still looking for its first conference win of the year.