ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict Hockey Team (13-10, 10-6 MIAC) had a history-making night after scoring three third period goals for a 3-0 MIAC win over St. Olaf (14-7-2, 10-5-1) on Saturday (Feb. 11) at Ritsche Arena.

With the win, the Bennies clinched a berth in the MIAC Tourney as they moved to 10-6 in the MIAC and 13-10 overall. The victory assured Saint Ben's of the most conference wins (10) since the MIAC began sponsoring women's hockey, and the 13 overall wins is the second most in school history (14-12-1, 1999-00).

In addition, the victory means that Saint Ben's has clinched at least the No. 4 seed- in the upcoming MIAC Tourney (Feb. 23-25, March 4) with the possibility of rising as high as No. 2 when the final MIAC games are contested on Feb. 18-19. While the Bennies participated in the 2022 MIAC playoffs, this will be the first time since the 2001-02 season (No. 5 seed) that a CSB team has qualified (top-five regular season finish) for the playoffs as the 2021-22 season became an all-comers tournament due to impact of COVID-19 on teams' schedules.

With two games left to play, CSB has 29 points in the MIAC standings and is just one point behind St. Olaf, which faces league leader and No. 2 Gustavus next weekend.  CSB, which is five points behind second place Augsburg, will close with a home-and-home series against Saint Catherine on Feb. 17-18.

"This team has shown tremendous resilience and fight all season," said first-year Head Coach Lindsay Macy, whose team has clinched a winning regular season for the first time since the 2000-01 team was 12-9-2 (9-7-2 in the MIAC). "This was a tough series with St. Olaf, and I am proud of the focus and effort by this team. They really showed some grit and purpose in their play today – and all season," she said.

Sophomore forward Aurora Opsahl, junior forward Jamie Benzie and sophomore defender Jenna Timm scored goals. After the teams battled to a 0-0 tie through the first two periods, the Bennies broke through with the three goals to earn a split in the series with the Oles.

Aside from making team history with wins in conference, senior goalie Ally Frantzick also set an individual school record for goalies with her fourth shutout of the season. She stopped 29 shots in 60 minutes on the ice as she recorded her 10^th win of the season in goal and now has 17 in her career. She also has 429 saves on the season and 1,165 for her career.

At 5:18 of the third period, Timm, a sophomore from Maple Grove, Minn., had the go-ahead score on her fifth goal of the season and the 10^th of her career. Jamie Benzie assisted on the play.

With a tenuous 1-0 lead, Opsahl, a sophomore forward from Duluth, Minn., stepped up with her 13^th goal of the season and 16^th of her career off an assist from Ava Stinnett, who had her 10^th assist. Opsahl, who is now tied for third in the league in goals with 13 and second in total points with 26, gave the Bennies a 2-0 lead on an even-strength goal at 15:07.

Then, Benzie, a junior from Moose Lake, Minn., closed out the scoring at the 16:31 mark on an empty net score after St. Olaf pulled their goalie for an extra skater. Benzie tallied her third goal of the season and seventh of her career as she was assisted by Sami Hackley (sixth assist) and Emma Rooks (four assist).