ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- A year after winning a conference championship in its inaugural season, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team is set to open the 2024 season by traveling for a road contest at NCAA DII Northern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 12 p.m., in Marquette, Mich.
 
Saint Benedict has been selected to win the 2024 Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) championship, according to the preseason poll, voted on by the league's head coaches.
 
About the Wildcats
The Northern Michigan Wildcats are directed by coach Lindsey Majkrzak (career record - 31-26), who begins her fifth season. A year ago, NMU finished with a 11-7 record where they fell to Grand Valley State University by a score of 11-10 in the GLIAC Championship game. With a 3-0 start this season, Minnie Bittell leads the Wildcats in points with 17 goals and six assists. In goal, first-year goalkeeper Lauren Espositio has led the way making 14 saves in three appearances.

Crandall Begins 2nd Season
Directed by head coach Patrick Crandall, the Bennies recorded a 7-0 record in the MLC a year ago and finished 11-3 overall. As the new season begins for Saint Benedict on Feb. 24 against Northern Michigan in Marquette, Mich., CSB is projected to again capture the MLC title. Saint Benedict, which open the home season on March 23 against University of Wisconsin-River Falls, received four first-place votes and 24 total points in the preseason poll.
 
 2023 Season Review 
A year ago, CSB had a memorable year with not only a conference title but an appearance in the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) playoff championship. During its 11-3 season, the Bennies had a perfect 7-0 conference mark and finished 1-1 in the league's playoffs. CSB recorded a 13-3 victory over Cornell College in the opening round on May 3 at the CSB Athletic Field. In the tournament championship, the Bennies dropped a 16-6 decision to Lake Forest, a team CSB had defeated in its home opener on April 12, 16-14.
 
As a result of the program's success, CSB Head Coach Patrick Crandall was named "MWLC Coach of the Year." Sophomore Sami Hackley was the "MWLC Rookie of the Year" while a total of seven Bennie student-athletes received postseason recognition. Named to the All-MWLC first team sophomore Chloe Lewis, sophomore midfielder Grace Fitzgibbons, and Hackley. Second team honorees included sophomore midfielder Emma Osland, sophomore attacker Ella Steinke  
 
Leading The Way
Named CSB's first-ever MWLC Offensive Player of the Week, S. Hackley was first-team All-MWLC and "Rookie of the Year" after leading the team with 37 goals and with 10 assists has 47 points. Hackley, who had multi-goals in 11-of-13 games, recorded four goals in a game five times including a high of five in the tournament win over Cornell. She had a team high 66 draw controls and ranked second on the lead with 32 ground balls while registering a team-high four game-winning goals. In league play she led the MWLC in draw controls with 43 and her 24 goals were tied for second with her 33 points tied for first.
 
Player Notes
In her first season in goal,  Chloe Lewis was 11-3 and played every minute in goal. In 14 games overall, she ranked second in the MWLC with 8.43 goals against average with 118 goals allowed and was first in save percentage at 54.6. With 142, she ranked third in the MWLC.
 
Grace Fitzgibbons recorded two five-goal games and had seven games with multi-goals. A global business and computer science major from Minneapolis, she scored 31 goals with 13 assists and 44 points for second on the team and ninth in the MWLC.
 
Named to the second team was Ella Steinke who totaled 25 goals and seven assists for 32 points. She registered multi-goals eight times and scored four in a game twice. In 13 games, Steinke had 85 shots, 32 ground balls (tied for the team lead) and 30 draw controls (third for CSB). In the win over Cornell College, she scored the first goal ever by a Bennie in the postseason. A biology/psychology major, she also recorded the first-ever goal by a CSB player in the season opener with UW-River Falls. Nine times the Plymouth, Minn., standout recorded multi goals and twice scored four in a game.
 
Osland of Cottage Grove, Minn., had multi-goals six times and finished with 21 goals and 24 points. A nursing major, Osland had a career-high five goals in the win over Wisconsin Stout. Osland recorded 27 draw controls, ranking fourth for CSB, and had 52 shots and 21 ground balls.
 
In 14 games, CSB had 179 goals (third, MWLC) for 12.79 per game while allowing just 118 or 8.43 per game (2nd, MWLC). In 483 shots, the Bennies had 356 shots on goals or 73.7 percent of total shots. CSB was ranked third in the MWLC in draw controls at 192. 
 
Around The Conference
Lake Forest was picked to finish second with 22 points and earned two first-place votes. The Foresters won the 2023 conference tournament championship. Northwestern was third in the poll with 15 points, Hamline was fourth with 12 points, Cornell was fifth with 10 points, and Augsburg completed the poll with six points. 
 
The MLC's regular-season standings determine the teams that qualify for the four-team conference tournament, while the tournament champion receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. CSB's league opener is against Northwestern (Minn.) on April 6 in St. Joseph, Minn., before facing Augsburg on April 12 in Minneapolis. CSB also has a road MLC game at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa on April 20 before hosting Hamline on April 24 and traveling to Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Ill., on April 27.
 
MLC Players to Watch – Emma Nelson, freshman, midfielder (Stillwater, Minn.), for Saint Benedict; Jade Wilson, a sophomore, midfielder for Augsburg; India Smith, a senior, defender, Cornell; Kendra Haselow, senior, defender/draw specialist, Hamline; Ali Graham, senior, midfielder, Lake Forest; and Maddie Hauer, junior, midfielder, Northwestern.
 
Up Next- After the trip to Northern Michigan, the Bennies will travel to Wisconsin for contests against UW-La Crosse (Mar.9),  Milwaukee School of Engineering (Mar.10) and UW- Eau Claire (Mar.13). CSB will open up league play on Mar. 20 to take on Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. Saint Benedict host UW-River Falls on Saturday (March. 23) as they open up the home portion of the schedule at 1 p.m in the CSB Athletic Field.