ST JOSEPH. Minn.– With three wins in four games, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (3-3, 0-0 MLC) will open Midwest Lacrosse Conference play by hosting the University of Northwestern (Minn.) (4-5, 0-0 MLC) in its home opener at 1 p.m., on Saturday, April 6 at the CSB Stadium Turf Field.
 
Saint Benedict opens the season with a 3-3 record
Saint Benedict, which was selected to win the 2024 Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC), is coming off a 20-5 road win over Elmhurst in which the Bennies had five players record hat tricks. First year Lizzie Schrubbe led the way with seven points (three goals, four assists) while sophomore Ella Steinke had a team-high four goals in the road 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 and then a day later on March 10, defeated Milwaukee School of Engineering, 19-4 as Schrubbe had a program-best nine points (four goals, five assists).  Despite seven goals from Sami Hackley, the Bennies dropped a 18-13 decision at UW Eau-Claire on March 13. CSB defeated Hamline University on March 20 by a score of 16-6,  in a nonconference game in which sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons scored a season-high five goals while Schrubbe added six points (2 goals/ 4 assists). 
 
Overall, CSB owns a 78-to-68 goals, 38-to-19 assists and 182-to-151 shots advantage over opponents. CSB, which averages 30.3 shots per game, has .725 shots on goal percentage. Also, the Bennies own a 137-to-125 margin in grounds balls and have forced 70 turnovers. In terms of draw controls, the Bennies trail opponents, 95-to-72 but CSB has an .802 clears percentage.
 
Up Next
After the game vs. University of Northwestern (Minn.), Saint Benedict will face a road MLC test against Augsburg on April 12 at 7 p.m. in Minneapolis, Minn.
 
About the Eagles
Northwestern, which is directed by fourth-year head coach Rob Hinsch, is 4-5 overall and 0-0 in MLC play. after a 19-9 win over Augustana University (Ill.) on March 23 and a 18-4 loss to Wisconsin-LaCrosse on April 2. Earlier, the Eagles defeated University of Wisconsin-Stout, 13-7, on Wednesday, March 20. Northwestern has been outscored, 115-to-86, and opponents own both a 253-to-231 margin in ground goals and a 135-to-96 advantage in draw controls. Maddie Hauer, Cara Smith, and Lauren Paar all have 15 goals to lead the Eagles while Abby Scheel leads in scoring with 25 points (21 assists, four goals). leads the team with 15 goals while Cara Smith has 14 goals.
 
Led by Schrubbe, first-Year players making an impact
Lizzie Schrubbe leads CSB in points with 30 with 14 goals and 16 assists. She collected seven points against Elmhurst on March 20. Schrubbe, who had a career-program best nine points (four goals, five assists) in a 19-4 win over the Milwaukee School of Engineering on March 10, has a career total of 33 shots and nine ground balls. Emma Nelson has nine goals and four assists. Twice this season (Hamline, MSOE), Nelson has recorded hat tricks (three goals). She has 11 shots on goal and collected 17 total ground balls. Emma Halweg has five goals, two assists while taking 10 shots and recording three ground balls. This season, she recorded a goal against UW- La Crosse, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and Elmhurst. On March 13 against UW Eau-Claire, Halweg had her first multi-goal performance by netting two goals. Breya Sawyer has three goals and two assists while taking three shots. In addition, Tess Cavanaugh has recorded two goals on three shots and fielded three ground balls.
 
Sami Hackley sets school record with seven goals
Sophomore Sami Hackley, who was All-MLC a year ago, recently earned her first-ever St. Cloud Orthopedic/CSB Athlete of the Week honor after setting a school record with seven goals in an 18-13 setback to Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She has 16 goals and five assists on the season, and for her career, now has 53 goals, 79 shots and 52 ground balls. Hackley had recorded 15 multi-goal games, including four straight, while registering six games of four goals or more in her career.
 
Lewis, Osland, Steinke and Fitzgibbons providing big contributions
In goal, sophomore  Chloe Lewis has made 45 saves recording a .398 save percentage through 360 minutes in the crease this season. For her career, Lewis has turned aside 187 shots for a .501 save percentage.
 
Junior Emma Osland has nine goals and three assists while taking 17 shots and picking up 17 ground balls. For her career, she has 30 goals and six assists, including 58 shots and 38 ground balls. She has three multi-goal games in 2024 and 10 for her career with a high of five vs UW-Stout on April 15, 2023.
 
Sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons has 11 goals in six games including a season-best five goals on March. 20 at Hamline. In her career, Fitzgibbons has totaled 42 goals and 13 assists with a total of 70 shots and 40 total ground balls. In her career, Fitzgibbons has 10 multi-goal games, including three 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. It is a total that ranks second best all-time at CSB.
 
This season, sophomore Ella Steinke has totaled nine goals and five assists. For her career, Steinke has 48 points, 83 shots and 47 ground balls. She also has 12 multi-goal games including a career-high four twice against Hamline on April 10, 2023 and Clarke (Iowa) on April 4, 2023.
 
Emma Schrepfer has fielded three ground balls this season. For her career, Schrepfer has 24 goals and 14 assists totaling 38 points. She has 46 shots and 26 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, Saint Benedict recorded a 7-0 record in the MLC 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 3-3 record in 2023-24, Crandall's all-time mark at CSB sits at 14-6. 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." With his direction, the Bennies finished a perfect 7-0 in conference play with an 11-3 overall record. CSB won the regular season title and then recorded a 13-3 win in the MWLC tournament semifinals. The Bennies fell to Lake Forest in the title game. Six team members 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. He comes to CSB with an impressive coaching resume at the high school and club levels in the state of Minnesota. In 2015, Crandall was selected as the Minnesota Coaches Association Coach of the Year. He has coached a Ms. Lacrosse Minnesota honoree as well as numerous student-athletes that have gone on to compete at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels.