ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons scored a season-best five goals while first-year Emma Nelson had her second hat trick of the season as the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (2-3) won for the second time in three games with a 16-6 victory over Hamline (5-2) in a nonconference match up at Klas Field on Wednesday (March 20).

CSB, which ended a five-game winning streak by the Pipers, improved to 2-3 on the season while Hamline dropped to 5-2. The Bennies opened up a 4-0 lead after one quarter and, with a 6-2 margin in the second frame, took a 10-2 lead to the halftime break. CSB also had a 3-1 edge in the third quarter to lead 13-3 before both teams tallied three goals in the final quarter of play.

In total, six CSB players recorded multi-goal games, led by Fitzgibbons and Nelson. A sophomore from Minneapolis, Minn., Fitzgibbons had a season-best five goals and now has eight goals on the season with 34 in her career. She had her second multi-goal game of the season and the ninth of her career. The five goal-game is the second-best total of her career (6, Augsburg, April 29, 2023).

"It was a good win today with the defense really setting the tone of the game from the starting draw. Chloe Lewis had a great game in net backing up a solid defensive effort," said CSB head coach Patrick Crandall. "Emma Nelson put her mark in the game early and often with draw wins, ground balls and timely goals. She continued her stellar rookie season. Another first-year having a great game was Lizzie Schrubbe directing the play with pinpoint passing and moving the offense around. Finally, Grace Fitzgibbons showed why she is a triple threat midfielder who can score, feed, and defend at a high level," said Crandall.

A first-year from Stillwater, Minn., Nelson had her second three-goal game of the season. She also had an assist as she now has 10 points on the year.

The Bennies also had multi-goal games from Sami Hackley, Emma Osland, Lizzie Schrubbe and Ella Steinke. Scrubbe led CSB in points with six as she had a pair of goals and four assists. She now has 11 goals and 12 assists for a team-high 23 points this season. Steinke had two assists and two goals with her 11^th multi-goal game of her career. Hackley had her 14^th career multi-goal game of her career and with two goals now has 50 in her career. She also had a season-high three assists for five points on the game. Additionally, Osland had two goals and an assist.

In goal, sophomore Chloe Lewis recorded nine saves in facing 21 shots.

CSB dominated the contest in nearly every facet including shots, 30-to-21; and ground balls, 25-to-19; while losing draw controls, 16-to-9. CSB was 16-of-22 on clears while Hamline finished 10-of-17.

"It was good for our team to come out and compete right away and get back in the winning side. Now we need to take this momentum into our conference games and continue to improve each day," said Crandall, whose team will play a road nonconference game on March 30 against Elmhurst (Ill.) University.

Game Summary -
Off an assist from Hackley, Osland opened the scoring (12:01) for CSB for a 1-0 lead. CSB had goals from Hackley (10:22) and Nelson (4:41) and one from Schrubbe (4:18) for a 4-0 edge after the first quarter. In the second quarter, Nelson (12:07), Schrubbe (11:06), Steinke (10:11) and Osland (9:32) all added goals for an 8-0 lead before Hamline tallied their first goal. Steinke's second goal (7:30) helped the Bennies to a 9-2 lead. With 48 seconds left in the half, Fitzgibbons had her second goal of the game for a 10-2 lead at the half.

The Bennies opened the third quarter with three straight goals by Hackley (10:17), Fitzgibbons (8:55) and Nelson (6:45) for a 13-2 lead. After a goal by Rachel Fussey (1:29) of Hamline, CSB took a 13-3 lead to the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, Hamline had a goal before, CSB had back-to-back goals from Fitzgibbons (13:05, 8:12) for a 15-4 advantage. After two goals from the Pipers, Schrubbe ended the scoring on a free position shot with 33 seconds to play.