ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After six straight wins, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (6-1, 3-0 MWLC), face a road Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference test at the University of Northwestern (8-3, 3-0 MWLC), April 19 at 7 p.m., in St. Paul, Minn.
CSB and Northwestern will meet for the first time ever and do so with both schools tied for first in the MWLC. The Bennies were picked seventh in the preseason poll and Northwestern, third.
On Wednesday, April 12, CSB secured their first ever home-game win against MWLC pre-season favorite Lake Forest College (16-14, 3-1). The Bennies have won six straight and are tied for first in the MWLC- with Northwestern. After Wednesday, the Bennies will host Cornell College on Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m. at the CSB Field, and UW-LaCrosse on Monday April 24 at 5 p.m.
Northwestern Notes
Northwestern, which is 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference, is coached by Sarah Connally, who is in her fifth season. The Eagles took a 20-3 win against Monmouth College in their last matchup on April 15. UNW has allowed 44 goals and scored 73 this season. The Eagles are led by Samantha Wiebold with 37 goals and 43 points and Ava Whitcomb with 24 goals and 34 total points.
CSB - By the Numbers
Through seven games, CSB has scored 101 goals while allowing 57 but owns a 253-to-178 shots edge. CSB has a 103-77 margin in draw controls and committed less turnovers than opponents, 122-to-124, but has recorded 138 ground balls and 75 clears in 101 attempts for a .743 percentage. Grace Fitzgibbons leads CSB with 19 goals and four assists for 23 points. Ella Steinke has 15 goals and five assists for 20 points while Sami Hackley has 17 goals and seven assists for 24 points and is the team's leading scorer. Steinke has 44 shots and Fitzgibbons follows with 39 shots.
Season Review
Osland's five goals leads CSB Lacrosse to 16-7 win at UW-Stout
With a career-best five goals from sophomore Emma Osland, CSB recorded its sixth consecutive win with a 16-7 nonconference win over Wisconsin-Stout (0-10) on April 15. Osland became the second Bennies player (
Grace Fitzgibbons) to register five goals in a game in the program's first season. As a result, Osland has 14 goals on the season and 16 points. She has scored at least two goals in five of CSB's seven games and now is fifth on the team in scoring with 16 points. The Bennies led 5-2 after a quarter and 9-3 at halftime. With a 7-4 advantage in the second half, the Bennies recorded the win.
Bennies record win in first-ever home game, 16-14 over Lake Forest
In the first home game of its inaugural season, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (5-1, 3-0 MWLC) shined while making history in a winning way.
With four goals from Sami Hackley and three from Emma Schrepfer and Shauna Miller, the Bennies recorded their fifth straight win on a history-making day with a 16-14 victory over preseason Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference favorite Lake Forest (4-7, 3-1 MWLC). After trailing 2-0 early, CSB took a 6-3 lead after the first quarter and led, 9-8 at halftime. With a 5-2 edge in the third quarter, CSB extended its lead to 14-10. Although Lake Forest had a 4-2 margin in the final quarter, the Bennies held on for the 16-14 victory. Miller, Hackley and Schrepfer all had hat tricks while Emma Osland scored twice as did Ella Steinke. Molly Davison and Jenna Timm also tallied goals.
CSB lacrosse wins first-ever MWLC game with dominating 17-4 win over Wartburg
With hat tricks or better from Grace Fitzgibbons, Sami Hackley and Molly Davison, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (3-1, 1-0 MWLC) won its first-ever Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) game with a 17-4 decision over Wartburg (2-8, 1-2 MWLC) on Wednesday (April 5). Fitzgibbons and Hackley both had four goals while Davison added three for the Bennies which had five players with two or more goals. With a 13-goal margin, CSB registered a third straight win by double-digit total. In its inaugural season, CSB has already had a series of firsts with another tonight in winning its first-ever conference game in the MWLC. And now they have won three straight games, also a program-first. After opening with a 3-1 lead in the opening quarter, CSB took control in the second stanza with six unanswered goals for an 9-1 lead and finished an 8-to-1 quarter with an 11-2 advantage. Leading that rush was S. Hackley who had a trio of goals. In the second half, CSB had a 6-2 margin, including a 4-0 margin in the final quarter. It was the second straight game when CSB held an opponent scoreless in the final stanza of play.
Fitzgibbons and Steinke each tally four goals to goals to lead CSB Lacrosse to 19-5 win at Clarke U
With four-goal performances from both Grace Fitzgibbons and Ella Steinke, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (2-1) earned a nonconference win over Clark (2-4) on Tuesday night at a raining Burrows Field. The victory was the second straight for the Bennies, which scored double-digit goals for the second straight game. The game was originally schedule at 7 p.m., but moved up to 4 p.m., due to weather conditions, After Clarke opened a 2-0 goal lead, the Bennies scored 10 straight goals to end the first period. Schrepfer had the first goal at 11:39 before Hackley tied the game at 2-2 at 11:23 of the first quarter. Then Fitzgibbons (9:47), Miller (8:38), had goals while Annika Anderson (3:35, 2:42) added two in a row for a 6-2 lead. Fitzgibbons struck again at the 1:17 mark which was the one of four in the final 67 seconds of the quarter. When Steinke (1:00) and Timm (:42) and Osland (:20) added goals, CSB led, 10-2.
Fitzgibbons scores five times to lead Bennies to 1st win - 14-4 over Beloit
CSB 14 Beloit 4 -- The College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (1-1), led by five goals from Grace Fitzgibbons, made history by recording its first-ever win in impressive fashion and on the road on March 26. In a dominating 14-4 win over Beloit (2-3), the Bennies, which had hat tricks or better from Fitzgibbons, Emma Schrepfer, and Shauna Miller, opened an 8-2 lead at halftime and then had a 6-2 edge in the second half. CSB Head Coach Patrick Crandall earned his first career win as the Bennies had control from the start. Fitzgibbons, a first year from Minneapolis, Minn., had a memorable effort. She scored four goals in the first half as the Bennies led, 8-2. Then she added another in the fourth quarter and, with an assist, totaled six points. She scored her five goals in just seven shots. CSB also had three goals from both Schrepfer, who added two assists, and Miller while Emma Osland tallied two goals. The Bennies scored nearly three times as many goals as they did in the 16-5 loss at UW-River Falls in the opener. Osland, Miller, Schrepfer, and Annika Anderson all tallied career first goals. Overall, CSB had a 41-to-14 margin on shots, totaled eight assists, recorded six saves and had seven ground balls. Meanwhile, Beloit had 23 saves and seven ground balls.
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 on March 20. 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.
MWLC Poll – Lake Forest selected to win.
Lake Forest College has been selected to win the 2023 Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) championship according to the preseason poll, voted on by the league's head coaches. The Foresters received seven first-place votes and 49 total points in the preseason poll. Lake Forest won the regular season title last season. Hamline was picked to finish second with 39 points and earned one first-place vote. The Pipers have won the past five conference tournament championships, which is a league record. Northwestern was third in the poll with 36 points, Cornell was fourth with 34 points, Wartburg was fifth with 24 points, Augsburg was sixth with 23 points, Saint Benedict was seventh with 13 points, and Monmouth rounded out the poll with 10 points.
CSB led by Patrick Crandall
In December 2021, CSB announced the hiring of Patrick Crandall, one of the state's top prep girl's coaches, was hired to lead the first-year 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 winning a state title in his final season last spring. So far in 2023, he has directed the CSB program to a 6-1 record and three straight MWLC wins, including a victory over league favorite Lake Forest, 16-14.
