SAINT JOSEPH, Minn. – With the seeding for the upcoming MIAC Postseason Tourney still up in the air, the College of Saint Benedict Hockey Team (13-10-0, 10-6-0), will face St. Catherine (11-10-2) in a home-and home series on Feb. 17-18. On Friday, Feb. 17, the Bennies travel to St. Paul, Minn., for a matchup against St. Kate's at the Drake Arena at 6 p.m. The Bennies return home to host the Wildcats 4 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Ritsche Arena.

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Next Up
With the 3-0 win over St. Olaf on Feb. 11, 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.

By the Numbers
After four wins in six games, including the recent 3-0 shutout against St. Olaf, the Bennies have the second most wins in program history with 13 and the 10  league wins is a school record. The most wins in a season was 1999-00 at 14-12-1, 6-7-1 in league play with head coach Tom Peart. 

CSB has an 8-4 home mark with a 5-6 road mark. CSB has outshot 14-of-23 opponents and own a 692-to-607 shots advantage and a 63-to-62 goals margin. The Bennies have a combined for 545 saves while opponents have 629.

Saint Ben's ranks third in the league with 2.74 goals per game on 63 total. The Bennies also rank sixth in goals allowed at 2.70 (62 goals) in 23 games played. In terms of points per game, CSB is fifth in the league at 6.35 on its 146 total points while also sitting fifth in the league in shots on goals per game at 30.09. In terms of penalty-killing percentage the Bennies are eight at .813 (18 goals allowed) and sixth in power-play percentage at .130 (nine goals). In addition, CSB is seventh in face-off winning percentage of .478 (623-of-1304).

Opsahl named MIAC Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 6
After scoring a goal in three consecutive wins, sophomore forward Aurora Opsahl of the College of Saint Benedict Hockey Team was named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hockey Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 6. A nursing major from Duluth, Minn., Opsahl earned her first-ever MIAC weekly honor. She scored three goals - one in each of three games during the week - to lead the Bennies to a three-game winning streak.  Opsahl, who ranks eight in the MIAC in assists (13), fourth in points (26) and fifth in shots (104), totaled four points with 11 shots, two blocks and won a faceoff in a win over UW-Superior, 4-2; and a weekend sweep (Feb. 3-4) of Saint Mary's, 3-1; and 3-2 OT in MIAC play. In the win over UW-Superior on Tuesday (Jan. 31), she had the first goal for CSB. She scored the game-winner in the third period in a 3-1 win over Saint Mary's on Friday (Feb. 3) and then had the game-tying goal in the dramatic 3-2 overtime win on Saturday (Feb. 4) over Saint Mary's. On Feb. 11 against St. Olaf, she had the third goal that topped off the 3-0 shutout against the Oles.

CSB swept MIAC weekly honors for first time in school history Nov. 22
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. This season, Jenna Timm (game-winning goal in overtime in 4-3 win over Hamline on Jan. 20) and Ava Stinnett (game-winning goal in 3-2 win over Hamline on Jan. 21) were named CSB Athletics Athlete of the Week.

Inside the Numbers – CSB Players
In terms of individuals, sophomore forward Aurora Opsahl is the team-leader in goals scored with 13. Opsahl, who has 16 career goals, has scored goals in six straight games, which is a record. Opsahl is third in the league in goals (13) while ranking tied for second in points with 26. She also has a team-high 104 shots, which ranks fifth in the MIAC. Opsahl ranks eighth in the MIAC in assists with 0.57 per game and her points rank her third with 1.13 per game on 26 points. Opsahl was announced as a MIAC Offensive Player of the Week on February 6 after scoring goals in three straight wins.

Junior forward Corrine Brown has totaled 16 points as she has six goals and 10 assists. She ranks eighth with an average of 0.53 assist per game. Brown, has 11 career goals and 18 career assists for 29 career points, is eighth in the league with 4.21 shots per game on 80 total attempts.

Sophomore forward Ava Stinnett is tied for second on the team in points with 17 as she has seven goals and 10 assists. She is third in the league with four game-winning shots. Stinnett has 12 career goals and 18 assists for 30 career points. Stinnett ranks third in the MIAC for Face-Off Wins/Total Face-Offs with 226 wins and 477 total. Ava was announced as the CSB athlete of the week for the week of February 6th.

Emma Rooks is second with nine goals and with four assists has 13 total points, ranking her fourth on the team. A sophomore forward, Rooks has 10 career goals and five assists for 15 points.

Sophomore defense standout Jenna Timm has 11 points with five goals and six assists. An All-MIAC performer a year ago, Timm now has totaled 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 career points.

Sophomore forward Shauna Miller has totaled two goals and four assists for six points in her sophomore year. A forward, Miller has four career goals and eight total points.

In goal, senior Ally Frantzick, who was named the CSB Athlete of the Week on Nov. 14, has a school record with four shutouts. Frantzick, who has 17 career wins, is 10-8-0 this year. In 1111.23 minutes, she has allowed 42 goals for 2.27 goals allowed per game, which ranks fifth in the MIAC. Her 20.43 saves per game is fourth in the MIAC and with a .911 save percentage she is seventh in the league. In overall, saves, she is also fourth in the MIAC. She has 1,265 career saves.

Sophomore Kate Moffatt has a 5-2-0 record in three starts with 2.95 goals allowed averaged. She has 81 saves and a .900 save percentage.

Season Notes

After opening with a 0-3 record, CSB has rebounded ten wins in 16 matches to move to fourth in the conference. CSB's 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. 

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 win, 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. Most recently the Bennies suffered 5-2 and 5-1 defeats to No. 1 Gustavus in home-and-home series. After a sweep of Hamline, 4-3 in overtime and 3-2, the Bennies fell to Augsburg, 2-1 and 3-2. In nonconference play on Tuesday, Jan. 31, CSB had a 4-2 win over UW-Superior with goals by Aurora Opsahl, Ava Stinnett, Jamie Benzie and Jamie Bimberg (career-first). Against St. Mary's on Friday, Feb. 3, with a first period goal by Hackley and late goals by Opsahl and Rooks, CSB won the first game of the weekend. For the second game of the series against St. Mary's, after two goals scored in the first period, goals by Kraemer and Opsahl tied the game up leading into first overtime. A goal in OT by Stinnett took the Bennies to their second win of the weekend against St. Mary's. On Friday, Feb. 10 the Bennies took on the Oles, a hard fought 2-3 overtime loss with goals scored by Aurora Opsahl and Emily Lemker. Which lead the Bennies to the second matchup of the series on Saturday, Feb.11, to make history with a 3-0 shutout win over the Oles to clinch the MIAC playoffs.

Breaking down St. Kate's
St. Kate's is directed by Head Coach Brad Marshall who is now 147-226-43 overall at St. Kate's. Marshall enters his 17^th season as the women's hockey coach in 2022-23. St. Kate's is 11-10-2 (5-9-2 MIAC), starting the season with 4 straight wins, on Oct. 28, a 11-1 win against Finlandia University 5-2 on Oct. 29. Another series sweep Lawrence University on Nov. 4, 6-0 and Nov. 5, 3-2. Starting the MIAC season with a tie and a heavy 0-6 loss against Augsburg on Nov. 11 & 12, 2022, before a series sweep against Concordia. They followed that series with a loss and win against St. Scholastica. As a team, they have 690 shots and 59 goals while opponents have 43 goals. Laura Denchfield leads the team with 23 points on 10 goals and 11 assists. Paige Loidolt follows with 19 points on 10 goals and 9 assists. Marie Reimer also has 19 points on 13 goals and 6 assists. In goal, Elizabeth Kubicek has allowed 2.49 goals allowed and has 431 saves (.904 save percentage).

Series Notes
This will be the 52^nd meeting between the two schools as CSB has 22 wins and lost 21 times. CSB won the last matchup on Jan. 29, 2022, 4-3. The Bennies are 11-10-4 in away match ups and 10-11-4 in home games. CSB won the first match up, 5-3, on Jan. 24th, 1998.

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 leads CSB to best MIAC start since 2000-01
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 earned her first career win at CSB in a 1-0 decision over Concordia University Wisconsin on Nov. 5 in Mequon, Wis. She has the program off to its best start in the MIAC since 2000-01. 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.