ASHLAND, Wis. – After a pair of overtime losses and several close games this season, the College of Saint Benedict picked up what has escaped it so far this season – its first win.
Saint Benedict (0-8-1) scored two goals early in the third to take a lead, but Northland College tied the game to force overtime. Senior
Kaitlyn Miller scored her first goal of the season in the final minute of play to lift her team to a 4-3 win over the Lumberjills Saturday evening in Ashland, Wis.
CSB – which also has a tie against St. Olaf to its name – took a first-period lead when
Mollie Wise scored an unassisted goal – her first of the season – in the 16
th minute to put her team up 1-0. Northland (4-7-2) tied the game with a power play goal in the fifth minute of the second period, and took a 2-1 lead three minutes later with another power play goal.
The Lumberjills held onto that lead until the third minute of the third period when
Maddie Dockry scored her goal of the season off an assist from
Kylie Eklund to tie the game. Two minutes later,
Riley Schneider put Saint Benedict back on top when she scored off an assist from
Brigette Miller to make it 3-2 at 5:53 in the third.
That lead didn't last long, however, as Northland tallied its third goal to tie the score at the 6:20 mark. CSB outshot the Lumberjills 14-7 in the third period, but Morgan Hirsch made 12 saves for Northland to keep the game tied. CSB had a power play opportunity in the 14
th minute, and had three shots on net, but failed to score.
CSB had several shots on net early in overtime, but it wasn't until
Kaitlyn Miller found the back of the net off a pass from
Brigette Miller that the game was over.
Saint Benedict outshot Northland 43-26, and junior goalie Julie Carle finished with 23 saves.
Brigette Miller and Wise both had six shots on net and Schneider added four.
The win wraps up the 2017 portion of the team's schedule on a high note. After Saturday's game, CSB is off until Jan. 5-6 when it takes on Marian and UW-Stevens Point in a pair of nonconference games in St. Paul. The team heads to Sweden and Finland for a Europe Dec. 27-Jan. 4. The team returns home for the first time in 2018 on Jan. 11 against Bethel.
