ST JOSEPH, Minn—Led by six goals from sophomore Sami Hackley, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (4-3, 1-0 MLC) extended its winning streak to three games by recording an 18-7 win over Northwestern (4-6, 0-1 MLC) in the home opener and start of the Midwest Lacrosse Conference schedule Saturday (April 6) at the CSB Athletic Complex.  

Next week, Saint Benedict will travel to face Augsburg University at 7 p.m., on April 12 in Minneapolis, Minn.

With the victory, CSB successfully opened league play and now stand 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the MLC. St. Ben's also defeated the Eagles for a second straight year (8-4, 2023). Northwestern fell to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the MLC.

CSB head coach Patrick Crandall was pleased with the team effort of the Bennies, which controlled the game throughout four quarters.

"It was a good team effort today. We started fast with Lizzie (Schrubbe) feeding Sami (Hackley) for three quick goals. The offense showed their skills in the first quarter. We have been working a lot on being connected and flowing together as a team on offense," said Crandall. "A lot of our goals have been coming off of good off ball movement and precise passing. The team is really starting to understand the concepts and sets that are being taught in practice. Chloe (Lewis) had another great game in net and the defense started out strong with a number of forced turnovers."

"Emma Osland, Grace Fitzgibbons, and Emma Nelson had outstanding games playing the entire 60 minutes and did not slow down," said Crandall. "Emma Schrepfer had a great game on the draw. Overall, it was a nice first home game and conference win. We hopefully continue to build momentum for the end of season push," he said.

Saint Benedict, which has won four of the last five games, opened up to a 6-1 lead in the first quarter and used a 3-1 advantage in the second quarter for a 9-2 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Northwestern had a 3-to-2 scoring edge before CSB closed the game with a 7-to-2 scoring advantage in the final quarter of play.

With Hackley leading the way, five players had multi-goal performances. Hackley had the second-best total of her career as she had six goals and now has a team-best 22 on the season. First-year Emma Halweg had two goals while adding two assists for a career-high four points. In addition, first-year Emma Nelson, sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons, sophomore Ella Steinke and sophomore Emma Osland all tallied two goals. In addition, first-year Tess Cavanaugh and first-year Lizzie Schrubbe had one goal. Schrubbe finished with seven points after registering a career-best six assists, which is also a program-high. It is the third time this year that Schrubbe has seven points or more in a game.

In net, Chloe Lewis made 12 saves to record her 15th win of her career. Lewis has a save percentage of .432.

Overall, the Bennies had an edge in 43-to-22 edge in shots on goal, 22-8 margin in ground balls and a 15-to-12 advantage in draw controls. In addition, CSB was 18-of-18 on clears with Northwestern converting 13-of-15.

Game Summary:
In the opening period Hackley had four goals (12:54, 12:05, 11:41, 6:54) with three coming off assists from Schrubbe. Steinke (8:43), and Emma Nelson (:33) also had goals in the first period as the Bennies led, 6-1.

In the second quarter, the Bennies used a 3-1 advantage for a 9-2 lead at the break. Hackley scored her fifth goal (2:03) while Grace Fitzgibbons (9:39) and Emma Osland (10:50) added goals as CSB dominated the opening 30 minutes.

The third quarter started out with a goal from first-year Tess Cavanaugh (12:06), who buried her third goal of the season. CSB also had a goal from Halweg (6:45).

In the final quarter, Nelson's second goal (14:42) began a three-goal surge by the Bennies. Halweg (12:54) and Osland (10:31) tallied goals for a 14-5 lead. Steinke's second goal (9:02) helped CSB lead, 15-6. Then after Northwestern's Cara Smith converted (7:41) with her second goal, the Bennies closed the game with three straight goals, including scores from Fitzgibbons (6:04), Schrubbe (2:01) and Hackley (1:13).