ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (0-1) will play a pair of games on March 26-27 as the Bennies face Concordia (Wis.) on Sunday at 4 p.m. with a 4:30 p.m., contest with Beloit College on Monday.

Steinke and Hackley score two goals in first game.
The Bennies opened the program's inaugural season with a 16-5 setback at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. In that opening match, Ella Steinke and Sami Hackley each scored a pair of goals. Steinke scored the program's first goal unassisted at the 9:31 mark of the second quarter. After trailing 3-0 after one quarter, CSB had a pair of second period goals. Down 10-2 in the third quarter, CSB had three goals to match UW-River Falls. In the final quarter, UW-River Falls outscored the Bennies, 3-0. Aside from Hackley and Steinke, CSB had a goal by Grace Fitzgibbons. Overall, CSB was outshot, 44-26 but had 19 shots on goals. CSB had a 13-12 edge in draw controls.

Inside look at the opponents
Against Concordia (Wis.), the Bennies face a team that is 1-6 this season and will host their first game of the season. In their most recent contest, they dropped a 20-7 decision at Carroll on March 22 and lost to Westminister (Pa.), 12-11 on March 15. Emily Schoessow is in her 13^th season as head coach of the program in which they have three Midwest Women's Lacrosse regular season titles and two MWLC Tournament Championships. They reached the NCAA DIII Tournament in 2015-16. In seven games, Concordia has 56 goals and average 8.00 goals per game on 22.43 shots. The Falcons are led by Eliana Fuchs who has 17 goals and 22 points while Katelyn Cardinale has 11 goals and 13 points.

As for Beloit, they have opened with a 2-2 record, including a 15-7 win over UW-Stout on March 22 and an 8-4 victory over Elmhurst on March 14. They lost to Saint Mary's (Ind.), 13-2, and Cornell College, 6-2. Beloit College is led by head coach George Counes in his first season as head coach. Through four games, Beloit College has 27 goals while allowing 30. They have made 66 shots while opponents have 96. Johanna McNair has 16 goals and 17 points while Airaudi Paige, Olivia Farbarik and Elzbieta Patapaite each have two goals.

Patrick Crandall leads CSB program.
CSB announced in October 2021 that it planned to start a varsity lacrosse program, which would begin play this spring. Soon after, the Bennies were accepted for membership in the now-eight member Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference – joining fellow MIAC members Augsburg and Hamline as well as Northwestern (Minnesota), Cornell (Iowa), Wartburg (Iowa), Lake Forest (Illinois) and Monmouth (Illinois).
 
In December 2021, CSB announced the hiring of Patrick Crandall, one of the state's top prep girls coaches, was hired to lead the program. He was the head coach at Lakeville South High School from 2011 through the 2022 season. During that time, his teams twice finished as state runners-up and twice finished as state consolation champions before finally winning a state title in his final season last spring.