ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict hockey team (2-2-1, 2-0-0 MIAC), which has a two-game winning streak, will continue faces an away and home matchup against St. Olaf (2-4-0, 0-2-0 MIAC) in MIAC play on Nov. 22 and 23. The Bennies and Oles will play at 6 p.m., on Friday, Nov. 22 at St. Olaf in Northfield, Minn. Then, CSB hosts St. Olaf at the Ritsche Arena on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m.

Following the games this weekend, St. Benedict will be back on its home ice by hosting Northland College in nonconference play at 7 p.m., on both Tuesday, Nov. 26 and Wednesday, Nov. 27.
 
CSB, directed by third year head coach Lindsay Macy, opened the season with a loss to No. 1 and defending national DIII champion UW-River Falls (1-0), 8-2 in River Falls, Wis. Then CSB took a 5-4 road loss to UW-Superior on Nov. 5 as first-year Camryn Hargreaves had two goals. On Nov. 12, the Bennies and UW-Superior played to a 2-2 tie (Yellowjackets had a 2-0 advantage in the shootout for the point). On Nov. 15-16, the Bennies rebounded by winning a 2-1 overtime decision at St. Scholastica and then scoring a season-high five goals in a 5-0 win against the Saints a night later. 

St. Benedict is 2-2-1 overall and with a 2-0-0 record in conference play sit in third place with five points. The Bennies sit just one point behind leaders Gustavus and Augsburg with six points.

Through five games, the Bennies, which finished 11-12-2 a year ago, have totaled 15 goals and allowed 16. The Bennies own a 30.0-to-27.9 shots per game edge against opponents. In goal, CSB has 122 saves, with opponents totaling130. The Bennies have converted 3-of-12 power plays for 25.0 percent while opponents sit at 20 percent on 3-of-15 conversions. CSB has won 171 and lost 126 faceoffs for a 57.6 percent success mark.

St. Olaf Notes
Tracy Johnson is in her sixth season as the head coach for St. Olaf and sits with an overall mark of 35-69-4 and a MIAC record of 17-56-1. So far, the Oles have played four nonconference games and two MIAC games. They opened with 4-0 and 3-0 wins over Wisconsin-Stevens Point before falling to No. 8 Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 2-1 and 3-2 on Nov. 8-9. On Nov. 15-16 St. Olaf lost to No. 2 Gustavus Adolphus, 3-0 on the road and 2-1 at the St. Olaf Ice Arena as they fell to 0-2 in MIAC play. St. Olaf owns an 11-10 advantage in goals over opponents but have been outshot, 29.0-to-21.7. In goal they have 164 saves with opponents at 119. St. Olaf is 1-of-16 on power plays with opponents, 3-of-18. Sophie McBane leads the team with three goals and Solvei Berg-Messerole has two goals and an assist. Bryn Etzell has a team-best three assists.

Series Notes
When CSB meets St. Olaf on Friday, the teams will play for the 51st time. The Oles own a 26-20-4 overall record against the Bennies in the series. In the last meeting on Feb. 10, 2024, St. Olaf defeated CSB, 6-3, at Ritsche Arena. At home CSB is 11-11-2 against the Oles but have gone 9-15-1 at St. Olaf. In league play, the Bennies sit 18-25-3. In the first match-up on Feb. 16, 2001, the Bennies took a 6-1 decision. In the last 10 matchups, the Bennies have a 7-3 advantage.   

Bennies Inside Scoop
This season, the Bennies have had 15 goals, scored by 12 players with first-year Camryn Hargreaves, junior Chloe Lewis and first-year Jorja Jusczak each scoring two goals. Hargreaves, Lewis, and Shae Stinnett have four points. Stinnett and Emily Wendorf both have a team-high three assists. St. Benedict has four players with two assists and 15 players with at least one assist.

With her two goals this season, Lewis now has eight career goals. Senior forward Ava Stinnett, who scored a power play goal against UW-River Falls, has played in 76 career games, scoring 26 goals, and recording 24 assists, with 226 shots on goal.

Senior forward Aurora Opsahl scored her first goal of the season in the 5-0 win over St. Scholastica. Opsahl now has 31 career goals in her time as a Bennie, a mark that ranks ninth all-time at CSB. She also ranks eighth all-time in points with 58 and moves into seventh with four more points. Brigette Miller (2014-18) is seventh all-time in points at CSB with 61 points. Opsahl is coming off seasons of 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 2022-23 and 13 goals and seven assists in 2023-24. She also has 250 career shots and eight game-winning goals, which places her tied with Susan Engel (2001-05) for the career lead.

When Jenna Timm recorded her 31st assist on the goal by Opsahl against St. Scholastica, she increased her career total to 31, a mark that ranks tied with Susan Engel (2001-05) for seventh all-time. To move up to sixth all-time (Elli Marvin, 2013-17), she needs three more assists. Timm, who has 12 career goals, has two assists this season.

Senior goalie Kate Moffat of the College of Saint Benedict hockey team, who allowed just one goal over two games in two wins by the Bennies, was named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Nov. 18. Moffat, who received her third career MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honor, allowed just one goal over 124:34 minutes of ice time and led the Bennies to a 2-1 overtime and 5-0 sweep of St. Scholastica in an away and home series on Nov. 15-16. Aside from this week, Moffat was MIAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 28, 2022, and on Jan. 8, 2024. In a 2-1 overtime win on Nov. 15 over the Saints, Moffat had 26 saves and allowed just one goal in 64:34 minute on the ice. A night later at home (Nov. 16) in the Ritsche Arena, she had her fifth shutout of her career in a 5-0 win. In that game, she had 32 saves and was a key contributor as the Bennies held St. Scholastica to 0-of-4 in power play goals.

In the two games, Moffat had 0.48 goals against average, recorded 58 saves for a .983 save percentage and had her first shutout of the season. She now has a .886 save percentage and 78 saves on the season.
Also in goal, Ellynor Haack has allowed four goals for a 2.29 goals per game average with 43 saves and a .915 save percentage.