MOUNT VERNON, Iowa -- After winning four consecutive games, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (5-3, 2-0 MLC) will face a road test against Cornell College (12-2, 2-1 MLC) at 1 p.m., on Saturday, April 20, at Van Metre Field in Ash Park.

Saint Benedict opens the season with a 5-3 record
Saint Benedict, which has been selected to win the 2024 Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) championship, is coming off a 23-3 victory over Augsburg. CSB, which set a game record for goals, was led by a school-record nine goals from sophomore Sami Hackley and a school record 10 points (5 assists, 5 goals) from first-year Lizzie Schrubbe. In net, sophomore Chloe Lewis made two saves in the victory.

CSB's season opened with a 20-3 setback at NCAA DII Northern Michigan (5-1) on Feb. 24. In game two, CSB dropped a 15-7 decision to University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on March 9. A day later on March 10, defeated Milwaukee School of Engineering, 19-4 as Scrubbe scored nine points.  Despite seven goals from Sami Hackley, the Bennies dropped a 18-13 decision at UW Eau-Claire on March 13. In a 16-6 victory over Hamline University, Saint Benedict received a career-high five goals from sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons while first year Lizzie Schrubbe added six points (2 goals/ 4 assists). On March 30, CSB defeated Elmhurst University, 20-5, on the road. On Saturday, April 6. CSB defeated the University of Northwestern 18-7, as Sami Hackley scored seven goals for the Bennies. 

Up Next
Following the road MLC matchup with Cornell College, the College of Saint Benedict will return home for a MLC contest against Hamline University on Wednesday, April 24. The match will be played at the CSB Stadium Turf Field at 5 p.m.

Program Records
Sami Hackley set the school record for goals in a game with nine against Augsburg on April 19, 2024 where she also recorded 12 shots on goal.  First-year Lizzie Schrubbe has set a pair of school game records including assists in a game with six against Northwestern in an 18-7 win on April 6 at home. She scored a record 10 points (five goals, five assists) in the 23-3 victory at Augsburg on April 12.   

About the Rams
Cornell College is directed by Meredith Meier, who is in her ninth season. The Rams are 12-1 and 2-1 in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference. Cornell College most recently defeated Northwestern (Minn.) 16-9 in conference play. Cornell has a 195-108 advantage in goals, owns a 418-332 advantage in ground balls and are tied 175-175 with opponents for draw controls. Cece Zanoni leads the offense with 76 points, while India Smith has 56 goals and 17 assists. 

First-Year Players at Saint Ben's making an impact
Lizzie Schrubbe leads CSB in points with 47 as a result of 20 goals and 27 assists. She collected seven points against Elmhurst on March 20. Schrubbe has a career total of 33 shots and nine ground balls. First-year Emma Nelson has 12 goals and six assists. Twice this season (Hamline, MSOE), Nelson has recorded hat tricks (three goals). She has 18 shots on goal and collected 20 total ground balls. Emma Halweg has eight goals, and five assists while taking 16 shots and recording four ground balls. Twice, she has recorded two goals in a game.  Breya Sawyer has three goals and three assists while taking three shots. In addition, Tess Cavanaugh has recorded five goals on six shots and fielded five ground balls. She also has one multi-goal game.

Hackley has 68 career goals - 17 multi-goal games
Sophomore Sami Hackley, who was All-MLC a year ago,  set a school record with nine goals in a 23-3 victory against Augsburg. She has 31 goals and five assists on the season, and for her career, now has 68 goals, 97 shots and 56 ground balls. Hackley had recorded 17 multi-goal games, including six straight, while registering nine games of four goals or more in her career.

Osland, Steinke and Fitzgibbons providing big contributions
Junior Emma Osland has 13 goals and four assists while taking 28 shots and picking up 20 ground balls. For her career, she has 34 goals and seven assists, including 69 shots and 41 ground balls. She has five multi-goal games in 2024 and 13 for her career with a high of five vs UW-Stout on April 15, 2023.

Sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons has 15 goals in eight games including a season-best five goals against Hamline University on March. 20. In her career, Fitzgibbons has totaled 46 goals and 20 assists with a total of 80 shots and 43 total ground balls. In her career, Fitzgibbons has 12 multi-goal games, including five this year. Five times she has registered four or more goals in a game, including a career-best six vs. Augsburg on April 29, 2023. 

Ella Steinker has totaled 12 goals and seven assists in 2024. For her career, Steinke has 52 points, 87 shots and 53 ground balls. She also has 13 multi-goal games including a career-high four three times against Hamline on April 10, 2023,  Clarke (Iowa) on April 4, 2023 and Elmhurst University on April 6, 2024.

Emma Schrepfer has fielded seven ground balls this season. For her career, Schrepfer has 24 goals and 14 assists totaling 38 points. She has 46 shots and 30 ground balls. In addition, Schrepfer has nine multi-goal games in her career with three vs Beloit (Ill.) on March 27, 2023.

Head Coach Patrick Crandall - 2nd Season
Directed by head coach Patrick Crandall, the Bennies recorded a 7-0 record in the MWLC a year ago and finished 11-3 overall in his first year with the program. In that first season, Crandall was named the Midwest Lacrosse Conference Coach of the Year. With a 5-3 record in 2023-24, Crandall's all-time mark at CSB sits at 16-6. She is now 9-0 in regular season MLC games. In his first season, the inaugural season of lacrosse at Saint Benedict, Crandall was named the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference "Coach of the Year." Six team members of the CSB team were named to the All-MWLC team while Sami Hackley was the conference "Rookie of the Year." Eight student-athletes were named to the Academic All-MWLC squad. Crandall was hired in late December 2021 to start the Bennie program, which began in Spring 2023.