DULUTH, Minn. – In the first official MIAC contest between the College of Saint Benedict hockey team and St. Scholastica, the Bennies fell 3-1 to the Saints Saturday evening in Duluth.
 
CSB (5-7, 2-4) outshot the Saints (7-5-1, 4-2-1), but St. Scholastica scored a pair of third-period goals to pull away for the win.
 
The Bennies had 12 first-period shots, including a handful on an early power play, but none found the back of the net. Brynn Sexauer had back-to-back shots on net during the power play, and Annika Brodt had a shot blocked and another saved.
 
CSB had 12 more shots in the second period, but it was the Saints who were able to score first in the 12^th minute to go up 1-0. That lead held the remainder of the second period and into the third when CSS scored again at the 8:06 mark to go up 2-0.
 
Sophomore Isabelle Heim got the Bennies on the board less than 40 seconds later when she scored her second goal of the season off assists from Sami Boerboom and Aurora Opsahl, but that's as close as the Bennies would get. The Saints added a final goal at the 10:37 mark to make it a two-goal game once again, and that's where the score stayed despite CSB outshooting Scholastica 19-8 in the final period. CSB pulled goalie Ally Frantzick with just over two minutes remaining, and five different Bennies put shots on net, but the Saints held on for the win.
 
Saint Benedict finished the game outshooting the Saints 44-31. Sexauer led the team with nine shots on net, Zoe Culshaw-Klein added seven and Opsahl added five. Frantzick finished with 28 saves in net, including 12 in the second period.
 
Saint Benedict is back on the road Wednesday, Jan. 26, when it heads to St. Paul for a nonconference game against Hamline at 6 p.m. at TRIA Rink.