SAINT JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team (5-4, 3-1 MIAC), which has five wins in past six matches, will host Bethel (1-5, 0-4 MIAC) in a MIAC matchup on Friday, Dec. 2, at Ritsche Arena in St. Cloud, Minn. The Bennies will play a home-and-home series with Bethel as they travel to Blaine, Minn., on Saturday for a 7 p.m., contest.

Follow along
Fans can follow along by  clicking here for live video/stats for the match at Ritsche Arena on Friday, Dec. 2. For the game at Bethel on Dec. 3, click here for live stats. Click here for live video.

Next Up
Following this weekend's contests, the Bennies will be off until facing No. 1 ranked Gustavus Adolphus (8-0, 4-0 MIAC) on Jan. 13-14 in an home-and-home series, starting with an 5 pm match up in St. Peter, Minn., on Friday. Then, they come to Ritsche Arena for a 4 pm game. Gustavus was ranked No. 1 in the DCU/USCHO Hockey Poll this week.

Ice notes
This season the Bennies have opened 5-4 with a 3-1 record in the MIAC. CSB is tied for second place in the MIAC with Hamline (4-4-0, 3-1-0) and St. Olaf (5-3-1, 3-1-0). CSB has a 3-2 home mark with a 2-2 road mark. has outshot every opponent and own a 353-to-188 shots advantage and a 27-to-19 goals margin. The Bennies have a combined for 169 saves while opponents have 326.

St. Ben's ranks fourth in the league with 3.0 goals per game on 27 total. The Bennies also rank second in goals allowed at 2.11 in the nine games played. In terms of points per game, CSB is fourth in the league at 7.22 on its 65 total points while sitting second in the league in shots on goals per game at 39.22. In terms of penalty-killing percentage the Bennies are fifth at .878 (5 goals allowed) and fourth in power-play percentage at .194 (seven goals).

For the first time in program history, the Bennies had a pair of student-athletes sweep the MIAC Weekly honors. After two goals and an assist, junior forward Corrine Brown was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week while sophomore goaltender Kate Moffat earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after 40 minutes of shutout goaltending in a 6-0 win over Wisconsin-Superior on Nov. 22. In addition, Brown was named the CSB Athlete of the Week for her career-best performance.
 
In terms of individuals, sophomore Aurora Opsahl has six goals (nine in her career) and is tied for third in the league through nine games. Opsahl lead the MIAC with 13 points in nine games (tied with Laura Denchfield of St. Catherine) and is fourth in points per game at 1.44. She also ranks seventh in the MIAC in goals per game at .67. With 60 total shots, she leads the MIAC while junior Corrine Brown is tied for second with 49. Opsahl leads the league with 6.67 shots per game with Brown at 5.44 and tied for second.

Sophomore Emma Rooks is second in the league in game-winning goals with two. Rooks has five goals this season for sixth in the league. She tallied her first career hat trick (three goals) in a 6-2 home win over St. Scholastica on Nov. 19.  Jenna Timm, who was named All-MIAC a year ago, has two goals and three assists and now has seven career goals. In addition, Ava Stinnett ranks second in the league in face-off wins vs. total faceoffs as she has 97 wins and 103 losses. In goal, senior Ally Frantzick, who was named the CSB Athlete of the Week on Nov. 14, has a pair of shutouts this year and a 3-3-0 record. She has allowed 2.05 goals per game with 13 total goals allowed while recording 103 saves. Sophomore Kate Moffatt has a 2-1-0 record in two starts with a 1.89 goals allowed averaged. She has 66 saves and a .930 save percentage.

In the last two games, CSB is 2-0 with a combined 12 goals scored. The six goals in consecutive wins over Wisconsin-Superior (6-0, Nov. 22) and St. Scholastica (6-2), is the most since defeating Northland, 7-4 and 7-1 on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29, 2016. In that 6-2 win over St. Scholastica, sophomore forward Emma Rooks recorded the first hat trick at CSB since Mollie Wise had three goals in a win against St. Olaf on Jan. 31, 2020.

Earlier, CSB had a three-game winning streak after a 3-2 road win at Concordia College – Moorhead on Nov. 11 and a 4-0 decision over the Cobbers at Ritsche Arena on Saturday, Nov. 12. In a 1-0, over Concordia University Wisconsin on the road on Nov. 5, sophomore Jenna Timm scored the game-winning goal at 12:47 of the second period. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and provided first-year Head Coach Lindsay Macy with her first career win at CSB. In the win, Timm scored her first goal of the year and the sixth of her career. Interestingly, she had her second career goal against CUW and scored this time on the same date as a year ago on Nov. 5 when she had her first career goal. Earlier this year the Bennies had lost to CUW, 3-2, and a 4-3 overtime decision to No. 8 UW-Eau Claire at home. The Blugolds also took a 4-1 decision in the opener. 
 
Breaking down Bethel
The Royals are directed by 12^th-year Head Coach Brian Carlson, who squads have made the MIAC playoffs in eight of his 11 years. He is Bethel's all-time wins leader with 130-120-29 record. This season, Bethel has opened 1-5 and 0-4 in league play. In six games, they have scored nine goals and allowed 23 for a -2.3 margin. They average 1.50 goals per game and allow 3.83. Kallie Abrahamson leads the team with four goals, scoring two goals with a pair of assists. Brynn Swenson had two goals and an assist for three points. In goal, Ashley Hess is 1-4-0 with 150 saves and a .898 save percentage. She has played in 257:53 of the 3:57.53 total ice time by the Royals.
  
Series Notes
When the St. Ben's hosts Bethel on Friday, it will be the 47^th all-time meeting. Bethel owns a 26-15-5 overall series edge although the Bennies took a 6-1 decision on Dec. 8, 2021. CSB has won two straight in the series but sit just 5-15-3 at home. CSB is 9-11-2 in games at Blaine, Minn., while sitting 13-26-5 in league play. In the first-every matchup, on Feb. 4, 2000, CSB recorded a 14-0 win.

MIAC Notes – Competition runs from Nov. 10 to Feb. 18
MIAC league play will run through Saturday, Feb. 18 with teams scheduled to play 18 conference matches, including two games against each MIAC opponent. The top five teams at the end of the regular season will meet in the 2023 MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs. The quarterfinals are set Thursday, Feb. 23 with semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 25 and the championship on Saturday, March 4. The winner of the MIAC playoffs earns the league's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA DIII Hockey Championships.
 
Macy takes over hockey program
Lindsay Macy is in her first year as head coach at St. Ben's. Hired on May 2 as the program's eighth head coach, Macy, whose team has opened 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the MIAC, earned her first career win at CSB in a 1-0 decision over Concordia University Wisconsin on Nov. 5 in Mequon, Wis. The Bennies have won three of four games in MIAC play for a 3-1 mark and second place. She came to Saint Benedict after two seasons as the head women's hockey coach at Finlandia University, and she brings plenty of coaching experience as well as high-level playing experience. Prior to joining CSB, Macy served as head coach at Finlandia since May 2020, and she orchestrated a rebuild of the program in her two seasons. She earned NCHA Coach of the Year honors – a first in Finlandia women's hockey history – after guiding the Lions to their best record since the 2017-18 season.

Macy also owns Relentless Hockey, a summer hockey school in Idaho that trains hockey players at all levels of the game. She started her coaching career at the Coeur D'Alene Hockey Academy in Cour d'Alene, Idaho, where she spent three seasons as the general manager and head coach of the U19 women's team that competed as the only U.S. team in the prestigious Canadian Sport School Hockey League. Macy was an assistant for both the boys' and girls' varsity hockey programs in her hometown of Owatonna, and served as the head coach of the JV boys' team.

Before stepping on the ice as a coach, Macy had a successful playing career that started in high school and continued through a stint with the Minnesota Whitecaps and the U22 National Team. She started her collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin where she scored 74 points in 66 games and finished her career at MSU-Mankato where she scored 44 points in 62 games. She helped the Whitecaps win the Western Women's Hockey League championship and reach the Clarkston Cup Final in 2008-09.