ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- With the regular season winding down, the College of Saint Benedict hockey team (8-11-2, 4-8-2 MIAC) is set to face St. Olaf in a home-and-home MIAC series on Feb. 9-10. CSB will host the Oles (9-12-0, 3-11-0 MIAC) at 7 p.m., on Friday, Feb. 9 at Ritsche Arena. On Saturday, the two teams will play again at 4 p.m., in Northfield, Minn.
 
After the two-game series this weekend, Saint Benedict will wrap up the regular season against St. Catherine (6-14-1, 2-11-1 MIAC). The Bennies will hit the road on February 16 to face St. Catherine at 7 p.m. They will then return home to host St. Catherine at 6 p.m., on Saturday (Feb. 17) at Ritsche Arena.

CSB, which is 8-11-2 overall, is 4-8-2 in the MIAC and sit in seventh place with 14 league points. The Oles are eighth in the conference at 3-11-0 with nine MIAC points. No. 3 Gustavus (16-4-0) has 40 MIAC points and sits in first with an 13-1-0 record with No. 15 Hamline (16-5-0 overall) with 32 points and an 11-3-0 MIAC record.   
 
Inside Look at Saint Benedict 
Saint Benedict, who split games with then No. 14 Saint Mary's (now receiving votes in the USHCO national poll) last weekend, has totaled 51 goals (2.43 per game, fifth in MIAC, 26th in DIII) and allowed 59 goals. CSB has 62 assists (7th in the MIAC, 43rd in DIII). The Bennies have a 52.2 percent success rank on face-offs for fifth in the MIAC. CSB has 113 team points for seventh in the MIAC while sitting second in the MIAC and 13th in NCAA DIII in shutouts with five on the season. By allowing 2.79 goals per game CSB is seventh in the MIAC.

In team stats, CSB has 624 saves to 562 for their opponents. In power plays, CSB has gone 9-of-66 while opponents are 13-of-68. CSB has won 679 face offs and lost 623 (52.2 percentage). CSB's nine power play goals ranks ninth in the MIAC and 51^st nationally while its 0.134 power play percentage is ninth in the MIAC and 45th in DIII.
 
Aurora Opsahl, who is a returning All-MIAC performer, has 12 goals this season and scored in eight of the Bennies 21 games. She also had a hat trick against Lake Forest on January 4. She now has 28 goals scored in her career for 10th all-time at CSB. She is sixth in goals scored in the MIAC. Junior forward Ava Stinnett follows Opsahl with 10 goals scored this season which places her 13th in the MIAC. Stinnett has scored 22 goals in her career at CSB. Corrine Brown leads CSB in assists with 10 on the season and is ranked 12th in the MIAC. Junior forward Emma Rooks has eight goals scored this season, totaling to 18 career goals. In the net, junior goalie Kate Moffat has recorded 458 saves this season (2nd in MIAC) with a 5-8-2 record. Moffat, who has two shutouts, ranks sixth in the MIAC with a .918 save percentage. First-year goalie Delaney Norman is also racking up the saves totaling 163 saves in five games played and has two shutouts. 
  
About the Oles
St. Olaf, who is 3-11-0 in MIAC play, is led by fifth year head coach, Tracy Johnson. The Oles are led by Solvei Berg-Messerole with 11 goals, 14 assists (2nd in MIAC), and 104 shots (1st in MIAC) while Molly Terebayza has also scored 11 goals with 8 assists this season. In the net, Hannah Fritz has 332 saves on the season (4th in MIAC) with a .927 save percentage.

Series History
The Bennies trail the all-time series, 19-25-4, but took home a 3-0 victory in the most recent matchup on Feb. 11, 2023. At home vs. the Oles, CSB is 10-11-2 while sitting 9-14-1 at St. Olaf and 17-24-3 MIAC record. In the first match-up, the Bennies won, 6-1, on Feb. 16, 2001.

Player Notes
Junior center Ava Stinnett  tallied five goals in a pair of shutout wins over Dubuque, 8-0 and 6-0 on Dec. 8-9 at home. Stinnett tied the program mark with four goals in a game against Dubuque on Dec. 8 in an 8-0 home win. She also had a goal and an assist against Dubuque in the 6-0 win on Dec. 9. Stinnett, who has played in 70 career games, has 205 shots on net with 22 goals and 21 assists in her career. This season, Stinnett ranks first in the MIAC in face-off wins with 271 wins of 512 opportunities for a .529 percentage (14th, MIAC). A year ago, she was third in the MIAC for face-off wins against total faceoffs (261-of-558). She also tied for fifth in the MIAC with four game-winning goals of the seven goals she scored last year. Stinnett has six career-game-winning goals. She has 43 career points, including 13 in 2023-24, with 17 a year ago a career-high.
 
A returning All-MIAC performer, Opsahl has a team-best 12 goals (6th, MIAC) this season, including four in a home series against Lake Forest. In a 4-0 win over Lake Forest on Jan. 4, 2024, she secured her first career hat trick.  Opsahl, who has played in 65 career games, has 29 career goals, which ranks ninth all-time (tied with Molly Wise, 2016-20). She has 22 assists and 51 points, which ranks 10^th all-time at CSB. She is just four points from ninth (Erin Baldwin, 55, 2003-07). In her career, she has seven-game winning goals, which is tied for second all-time (Paula Vogt, 1998-01; Elli Marvin, 2013-17) and one away from first all-time at CSB (Susan Engel, 2001-05). She had a run of goals in five straight games earlier this year. Last year, she played in 26 games, with a career-high of two goals against UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 29, 2022. Opsahl tallied a goal in a school-record seven straight games as a sophomore. With a season-career-high 14 goals a year ago, she tied for 10^th all-time for a season at CSB.
  
Senior forward Corrine Brown, has scored two goals this season, including one against nationally-ranked UW-Eau Claire on the road. She also had the game-winning overtime goal in the 5-4 decision over Concordia on Nov. 11. She now has 13 career goals, 28 assists, 206 shots and has played in 74 games. With 28 career assists, she and teammate Jenna Timm are tied for 10^th all-time in career assists (Jenna Timm, Kari Dykhoff, 2000-04; Katie Ponsolle, 2001-05). Brown has one multi-goal performance at CSB as she tallied two goals as a junior against UW- Superior on November 22, 2022. 
 
Junior forward Emma Rooks ranks third on Saint Benedict with eight goals this season (11 points) and has 18 in her career. Rooks has totaled 26 career points and 141 shots. She has three multi-goal performances including two goals against Augsburg on Jan. 26. She also tallied two goals against St. Scholastica on Nov. 17, 2023 and she secured a hat trick against St. Scholastica on November 19, 2022. 

Sophomore forward Shauna Miller who has two goals scored ranks eighth in the MIAC with 228 face-off wins in 405 opportunities for a .563 percentage (9th, MIAC). Miller has totaled five points as she also has three assists on the season. In her career, she now has six goals and seven assists for 13 points while totaling 54 shots and registering one game-winning goal (2023-24 season).

Sami Boerboom has two goals and four assists for six points in 2023-24. A junior forward, she now has 10 career goals and nine career assists for 19 points. She has totaled 70 shots and converted four power play goals in her career.
 
Blue Liners Making Impact for Bennies
A pair of defenders are leading the Bennie blue line this season by example. Jenna Timm and Emily Wendorf lead all CSB defenders with 17 total points. Wendorf has two goals and eight assists (20^th, MIAC) for 10 points (4^th, CSB) in her first season of collegiate hockey. Timm has seven assists in her junior season and 28 in her career. With teammate Corrine Brown, she is tied for 10^th all-time in career assists (Corrine Brown, Kari Dykhoff, 2000-04; Katie Ponsolle, 2001-05, 28 assists). She has 11 career goals.

Junior goaltenders Kate Moffat has a 5-7-2 record in 15 starts this season. In 866:52 on the ice, Moffat has a 2.84 goals against average and a .918 save percentage with 458 saves (2nd, MIAC) on the season. First-year Delaney Norman is 2-3-0 on the season and has a .906 save percentage with 163 saves. She has a 2.75 goals against average in 339:35 on the ice.

CSB has 5 goals or more 5 times in 2023-24 – 12 times double-digit goals in school history.
Five times this season, Saint Benedict has scored five goals or more, all victories. CSB has a high of eight in the 8-0 win over Dubuque on Dec. 8. In the history of the program, CSB has five goals or more 92 times, resulting in 87 wins against just five losses or ties. CSB has scored double-digit goals 12 times but not since a 10-1 win over Concordia-Moorhead on Nov. 20, 2005.

CSB has registered five goals or more five times since going it six times in 2014-15. Eight times in program history, Bennies have recorded five goals in a game five times in a season. In the 14-12-1 season of 1999-00 CSB scored five goals or more 11 times, reaching double digits four times with a high of 17 (17-1 win over Hamline, Dec. 10, 1999). From Dec. 10-11 1999, CSB had a combined 29 goals for a school mark in 17-1 and 12-0 wins over Hamline. That CSB team nearly matched it with 27 on Feb. 4-5, 2000 with 14-0 and 13-1 wins over Bethel. In the 2000-01 season, CSB had nine games of five goals or more, including reaching double digits three times. Among those explosive offensive efforts, CSB had 10-3 and 11-3 wins over Bethel on Jan. 5-6, 2001, and a 10-1 win on Jan. 19 2001 against Hamline. In both 1997-98 (11-8-2 record) and 1998-99 (11-15-0 record), the Bennies recorded five or more goal seven times. In 1997-98, twice they had double-digit goals, including 12-0 over Carleton on Feb. 21, 1998. In the final two games of the 1997-98 season, CSB defeated Iowa State, 11-2 and 5-0. The Iowa State program has since been discontinued.

Macy Leads CSB Hockey 
Head coach Lindsay Macy  has started her second year as head coach at Saint Benedict. In her first year, Macy directed the Bennies to a program-best 11 conference wins and tied the program-mark for total wins with 14. CSB, who had a 14-12 overall and 11-9 record for third in the MIAC in 2022-23, directed the Bennies into the conference semifinals. Two players were named All-MIAC (Jenna Timm, Aurora Opsahl). At CSB she has a career record of 22-23-2 and 15-17-2 in the MIAC.

2023-24 - Game Results (for game recap, click on game link below) 
Game 1  - No. 10 UW-Eau Claire 4 Saint Benedict 3 
Game 2 -  No 10 UW-Eau Claire 7 Saint Benedict 1
Game 3 - No. 1 UW-River Falls 5 Saint Benedict 0
Game 4 - Saint Benedict 5 Concordia 2
Game 5 - Saint Benedict 5 Concordia 4 (OT)
Game 6 - Saint Benedict 5 St. Scholastica 2
Game 7 - Saint Benedict 1 St. Scholastica 1 (CSS wins shootout, 1-0)
Game 8 - Saint Benedict 0 Bethel 0 (CSB wins shootout, 2-1)
Game 9 - Bethel 3 Saint Benedict 2 
Game 10 - Saint Benedict 8 Dubuque 0
Game 11 - Saint Benedict 6 Dubuque 0
Game 12 - Saint Benedict 4 Lake Forest 0
Game 13 - Saint Benedict 1 Lake Forest 0
Game 14 - No. 2 Gustavus 4 Saint Benedict 1
Game 15 - No. Gustavus 6 Saint Benedict 1
Game 16 - (RV) Hamline 3 Saint Benedict 1
Game 17 - (RV) Hamline 4 Saint Benedict 1
Game 18 - (RV) Augsburg 2 Saint Benedict 1
Game 19 - (RV) Augsburg 6 Saint Benedict 2
Game 20 - No. 14 Saint Mary's 5 Saint Benedict 1
Game 21 - Saint Benedict 2 No. 14 Saint Mary's 1