ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team (7-9-2, 3-6-2 MIAC), which had a goal from junior forward
Shauna Miller, dropped a closely contested 2-1 home MIAC decision to (RV) Augsburg (12-5-0, 8-3-0 MIAC) on Friday (Jan. 26).
With the setback, CSB dropped to 7-9-2 overall and 3-6-2 for 11 league points and seventh in the MIAC. Augsburg improved to 8-3 in the league and 12-5 overall. They sit fourth in the MIAC with 22 MIAC points. The two teams will play the final of the home-and-home series in Minneapolis on Saturday at 4 p.m.
For two periods, the two teams traded shots with the Auggies holding a 24-to-4 advantage in the first period and CSB holding a 17-to-12 margin in the second period. However, neither team put up a goal as they battled to a 0-0 draw through the opening 40 minutes. Then, Augsburg had a 2-to-1 goal edge in the final period to earn the win -- the 36
th in 56 meetings between the MIAC opponents.
Augsburg opened the scoring on a short-handed goal by Emily Cronkhite, who had her ninth of the year at 9:45 of the third period for a 1-0 lead. The Bennies responded at 11:35 to tie the game at 1-1 on an even-handed goal from
Shauna Miller, who scored off assists from
Morgan Cromwell (3
rd, season) and
Emma Rooks (2
nd, season). It was Miller's first career goal and fifth of her career.
Then at 14:23 of the third period, the Auggies broke the tie on an even-handed goal from Nora Stepan, who had her fifth goal of the season. Assisting on the score was Kennedy Stein (6
th, season).
The
Bennies, which has scored one goal in each of the past six games, was outshot 49-to-39 but CSB had a 35-to-23 margin in the final two periods. Senior
Corrine Brown and junior forward
Aurora Opsahl had five shots each while
Ava Stinnett and Miller each contributed four shots. Miller also had another solid night on face-offs, winning 72 percent on 18-of-25 attempts. A. Stinnett had 11 wins in 20 face-offs with
Chloe Lewis winning 5-of-8 as CSB had 37 wins in 59 face-offs for 62.5 percent.
In goal, junior
Kate Moffat allowed two goals while registering 47 saves (2
nd best performance on the season) in 60 minutes of the ice. The Auggies' goaltender Chloe Stockinger had 38 saves as she improved to 9-4-0 on the season.
