ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team had the top-ranked team in Division III on the ropes Saturday night, but St. Thomas used a pair of third-period goals to pull away for the 2-1 win in St. Paul.
 
CSB is now 7-12-2 overall and 4-12-2 in the MIAC with a pair of games remaining in the 2018-19 regular season. UST stays unbeaten at 21-0-2 and has already clinched a spot in the conference playoffs with a 14-0-2 league record.
 
The Tommies came out hot in the first period, outshooting CSB 13-4. Courtney Conlin and Maria Gaertner put back-to-back shots on net on the Tommies, and Riley Schneider had a shot, but nothing got past Tommie goalie Kenzie Torpy. Kailee Medved stopped all 13 shots she faced, and the game was tied heading into the first intermission.
 
Saint Benedict came out firing in the second as Mollie Wise had an early shot on net, and Myka Stave and Wise put a pair of shots on net to keep UST off balance. Eight minutes into the period, CSB won a faceoff in the Tommies' zone and Courtney Conlin notched her eighth goal of the season at the 8:16 mark to put CSB up 1-0. Wise and Maddie Dockry were credited with assists.
 
St. Thomas gained some control after that, and finished the period with another 13 shots on net, but Medved stopped all 13, and Saint Benedict held a 1-0 lead over the top-ranked team in Division III heading into the final 20 minutes.
 
In the third, it was the Tommies who came out hot, and they tied the game at the 3:35 mark of the period after putting several shots on Medved. The game stayed tied until the 14:45 mark when Rachel Werdin took a pass from her teammates and scored on a breakaway to give UST the lead for good. CSB pulled Medved with just under two minutes to play to give CSB the advantage, but after taking a penalty and going on the penalty kill, Medved was put back in for the final minute as CSB played a woman down.
 
Saint Benedict finished with 15 shots on net to UST's 36. Wise had four shots to lead the team and Conlin, Stave, Schneider, Julia Pias and Annika Brodt each had two. Medved finished with 34 saves.
 
CSB is at home once more this season when it hosts Gustavus at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, to open the teams' final series of the season.