ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - The College of Saint Benedict hockey team (5-4-2) will face Lake Forest College (9-4-0) in a two-home game non-conference series on Jan. 4-5 at the Ritsche Arena in St. Cloud, Minn. CSB will host the Foresters at 7 p.m., on Thursday, Jan. 4 and at 3 p.m., on Friday, Jan. 5 at Ritsche Arena.
 
The Bennies hold a 5-4-2 overall record and 3-1-2 record in the MIAC and sit in third place with 11 MIAC points and tied with Augsburg (7-4, 4-2), (11 points). (RV) Hamline (7-3, 5-1), (14 points) is second in the MIAC with No. 1 nationally ranked Gustavus Adolphus (9-2-0, 6-0-0 MIAC) in first place with 18 points. Following the match up with Lake Forest College, CSB will face No. 2 Gustavus Adolphus in a home and home series on Jan. 12-13. The Bennies host the Gusties on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.
 
About the Foresters
Lake Forest has won nine straight after a 4-0 win over Trine and a 6-0 victory against Dubuque. Last week, they defeated Lawrence, 4-0, and 2-1. The Foresters are directed by sixth-year head coach Jennifer Wilson. Junior forward Abby Meyer leads the team with 10 points, including five goals and six assists with 49 shots. Sophomore forward Zara Post has four goals with 16 shots. Victoria Liu has two goals and a team-high nine assists. In goal, Chelsea Denniss has a 6-2-0 record, 240 saves and 1.77 goals against avg. Before facing the Bennies, Lake Forest will also play UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday, Jan. 3 in Eau Claire, Wis.
  
Series Notes – Lake Forest vs. CSB 
When the Bennies and Foresters play Jan 4, it will be the third meeting in history as Lake Forest has a 2-0 series lead. Lake Forest defeated CSB, 2-1 and 6-2, on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3, 2001, in Richmond, Minn.
  
Inside look at Saint Benedict 
In 2023, the Bennies have totaled 36 goals (third, MIAC; 17^th, NCAA DIII) and allowed 28. The Bennies, which average 3.3 goals per game had a MIAC-best 370 shots (33.64 per game, 1^st in MIAC). Bennies have 42 assists (6^th, MIAC; 26^th, NCAA DIII). With 3.27 goals per game, CSB is fourth in the MIAC and 19^th in NCAA DIII. The Bennies have a 51.7 percent success rank on faceoffs for 6^th in the MIAC and 33^rd in NCAA DIII. CSB has 78 team points for 5^th in the MIAC and 22^nd in NCAA DIII while sitting second in the MIAC and 10^th in NCAA DDIII in shutouts.

CSB has 288 saves to 334 for their opponents. In power plays, CSB has gone 6-of-41 while opponents are 7-of-39. CSB has won 369 face offs and lost 345 (51.7 percentage).

Senior forward Corrine Brown is first in the MIAC and ninth in NCAA DIII with 0.91 assists per game. Junior center Ava Stinnett ranks fourth in the MIAC and eighth in NCAA DIII with 149 face off wins while ranking 10th in NCAA DIII and 2^nd in MIAC with 0.82 goals per game. Junior forward Aurora Opsahl Is third in the MIAC and eighth in NCAA DIII with two game-winning goals and ranks 19^th in NCAA DIII and fifth in the MIAC with 0.70 goals per game. She is also 25^th in DIII with two power play goals. Three CSB goalies – Kate Moffat, Donelle Decker, and Delaney Norman rank fifth in the MIAC and 29^th in DIII with one shutout each.

CSB has 5 goals or more 5 times in 2023-24 – 12 times double-digit goals in school history.
Five times this season, Saint Benedict has scored five goals or more, all victories. CSB has a high of eight in the 8-0 win over Dubuque on Dec. 8. In the history of the program, CSB has five goals or more 92 times, resulting in 87 wins against just five losses or ties. CSB has scored double-digit goals 12 times but not since a 10-1 win over Concordia-Moorhead on Nov. 20, 2005.

CSB has registered five goals or more five times since going it six times in 2014-15. Eight times in program history, Bennies have recorded five goals in a game five times in a season. In the 14-12-1 season of 1999-00 CSB scored five goals or more 11 times, reaching double digits four times with a high of 17 (17-1 win over Hamline, Dec. 10, 1999). From Dec. 10-11 1999, CSB had a combined 29 goals for a school mark in 17-1 and 12-0 wins over Hamline. That CSB team nearly matched it with 27 on Feb. 4-5, 2000 with 14-0 and 13-1 wins over Bethel. In the 2000-01 season, CSB had nine games of five goals or more, including reaching double digits three times. Among those explosive offensive efforts, CSB had 10-3 and 11-3 wins over Bethel on Jan. 5-6, 2001, and a 10-1 win on Jan. 19 2001 against Hamline. In both 1997-98 (11-8-2 record) and 1998-99 (11-15-0 record), the Bennies recorded five or more goal seven times. In 1997-98, twice they had double-digit goals, including 12-0 over Carleton on Feb. 21, 1998. In the final two games of the 1997-98 season, CSB defeated Iowa State, 11-2 and 5-0. The Iowa State program has since been discontinued.

Player Notes
Junior forward Ava Stinnett leads the Bennies in goals with nine with her .82 goals per game ranking second in the league and 10^th in NCAA DIII. She is fourth in the MIAC and eighth in NCAA DIII with 149 face-off wins while ranking 10th in NCAA DIII. Stinnett tallied five goals in in a pair of shutout wins over Dubuque, 8-0 and 6-0 on Dec. 8-9 at home. Stinnett tied the program mark with four goals in a game against Dubuque on Dec. 8 in an 8-0 home win. She also had a goal and an assist against Dubuque in the 6-0 win on Dec. 9. She ranks 11^th in the MIAC with 11 points and seventh in the league with 46 shots. Stinnett, who has played in 60 career games, has 189 shots on net with 21 goals and 20 assists in her career. A year ago, she was third in the MIAC for face-off wins against total face-offs (261-of-558). She also tied for fifth in the MIAC with four game-winning goals of the seven goals she scored last year. Stinnett has six career-game-winning goals.
 
A returning All-MIAC performer, Opsahl has had seven goals this season, including three in the most recent series against Dubuque. Opsahl, who has played in 54 career games, has 24 career goals, 22 assists and 46 points. In her career, she has five-game winning goals. Last year, she played in 26 games, with a career-high of two goals against UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 29, 2022. Opsahl tallied a goal in seven straight games as a sophomore. The seven-goal streak began on January 31, 2022, against UW-Superior. In the 2023-24 season, Aurora Opsahl Is third in the MIAC and eighth in NCAA DIII with two game-winning goals and ranks 19^th in NCAA DIII and fifth in the MIAC with 0.70 goals per game. She is also 25^th in NCAA DIII with two power play goals.
  
In that opener, junior Sydney Hunst has three assists this season, including one against Dubuque. Junior defender Sami Boerboom also recorded a goal in the latest home series.  Hunst has played in 38 games with five career assists and one goal. Boerboom has played in 57 games with nine goals, seven assists and 64 shots.
  
Senior forward Corrine Brown has scored two goals this season, including one against nationally-ranked UW-Eau Claire on the road. She also had the game-winning overtime goal in the 5-4 decision over Concordia on Nov. 11. She now has 13 career goals, 28 assists, 175 shots and has played in 64 games. Brown has one multi-goal performance at CSB as she tallied two goals as a junior against UW- Superior on November 22, 2022. In the most recent series, Brown broke the school record in assists with five in a single game on December 8, 2022, against Dubuque. With three more assists against Dubuque (6-0 win, Dec. 9), she had eight on the weekend, tied for the most in a two-game series in school history. With the performance, Brown earned the MIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week honors on December 11, 2023.
 
Junior forward Emma Rooks tallied two goals against Bethel (fourth in three consecutive games) this brings her total to 14 career goals. This was Rook's second multi-goal performance as she scored a hat trick a season ago against the same St. Scholastica team on November 19, 2022. 

Senior forward Jamie Benzie recorded her first multi-point game of her career against Concordia-Moorhead on November 9, 2023. This was Benzie's first two goal game of her career. Benzie also registered her first assist of the season on November 18, 2023, at St. Scholastica in a 1-1 decision.

Junior goaltender Kate Moffat is ranked fifth in the MIAC in save percentage and has recorded 228 saves (.916 PCT). She has played in 28 career games with 398 total saves with an overall record of 8-5 2.

A Pair of Firsts Between the Pipes
Sophomore Donelle Decker and first-year Delaney Norman each recorded the first career collegiate victories as goalies. Decker turned aside three shots on December 9, 2023, in a 6-0 victory over Dubuque. Norman also recorded her first collegiate victory when she made 12 stops against Dubuque in an 8-0 decision.

First-Year Impact
Emily Wendorf, Shae Stinnett and Brooklyn Johnson have stood out on the Bennie roster this season. Wendorf has two goals and six assists for eight points as she ranks fourth on CSB in scoring. Johnson has recorded three goals on 15 shots this season. In the 8-0 win over Dubuque, Stinnett scored her first career goal and also has an assist with 43 shots in her first season with the program.
 
Macy leads CSB Hockey 
Head coach Lindsay Macy  has started her second year as head coach at Saint Benedict. In her first year, Macy directed the Bennies to a program-best 11 conference wins and tied the program-mark for total wins with 14. CSB, who 14-12 overall and 11-7 record for third in the MIAC in 2022-23, directed the Bennies into the conference semifinals. Two players were named All-MIAC (Jenna Timm, Aurora Opsahl). At CSB she has a career record of 19-16-2 and 14-8-2 in the MIAC.