ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – With a career-high five goals by Emma Osland plus four goals from Sami Hackley and Emma Halweg, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (9-4) put together a dominating effort and advanced to the Midwest Lacrosse Conference Tournament Championship for a second consecutive year in a 19-9 win in the MLC semifinals over Hamline (9-9) Wednesday at CSB Athletic Turf Stadium.

Saint Benedict, which improved to 9-4 on the season, won the regular season MLC Championship (5-0) for a second straight year in the program's second season. And, with tonight's semifinal win in the MLC playoffs return to the tournament championship where they face Lake Forest (13-3) at 3 p.m., on Saturday (May 4) in St. Joseph, Minn. The Bennies and Foresters also met in the tournament championship a year ago (Lake Forest, 16-6 win).

Tonight, CSB improved to 2-1 in the MLC playoffs with the 19-9 win, scoring the most goals in its three games of the playoffs.

Led by Osland, Halweg and Hackley, CSB opened up a 6-3 lead after one quarter and with a 7-1 edge in the second frame, push the lead to 13-4 at the half-time break. CSB had a 3-1 edge in the third quarter for a 16-5 lead. Hamline outscored CSB, 4-3, in the fourth quarter but it was too little too late.

With a career-high five goals, Osland, a junior, tallied the most goals since scoring five against Wisconsin Stout on April 15, 2023. Osland, who had her eighth multi-goal game in 2024 and 16^th in two seasons at CSB, now has 24 goals this season and 45 in her career. Hackley had her 21^st multi-goal game of her career and her 10^th straight this year while recording her 11^th four-goal or better game of her career. The sophomore standout now has a team-high 47 goals and 84 in her career. Sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons added a hat trick; first-year Emma Nelson had two goals; and Ella Steinke tallied one goal.

Halweg, who had her third straight and sixth multi-goal game in her first season, had five total points as did Osland, Hackley and first-year Lizzie Schrubbe, who registered five assists.

Two-time MLC Defensive Player of the Week, sophomore goalie Chloe Lewis again starred for the Bennies. For the fifth straight game and 11^th time in her career, Lewis had double-digit saves. In the win today, she had 18 saves for the second straight game, which is the second most of her career.

Overall, Saint Benedict had a 35-to-31 shots edge but was highly efficient with the 19 goals. The Bennies, which had just 11 turnovers, held a 19-to-12 edge in draw controls but Hamline had a 16-to-11 edge in ground balls.

Game Summary –
In the opening quarter, CSB took a 6-3 lead after one quarter on three goals by Hackley and three assists from Schrubbe. Hackley score the first two goals (14:42, 13:46) of the game before Hamline cut the lead to 2-1. Then, Osland (9:51) and Hackley (9:11) provided scores for a 4-1 lead. After another Pipers' goal, Nelson (4:03) and Osland (2:31) had goals for a 6-3 advantage at the break.

Early in the second quarter, Hackley (14:10), Fitzgibbons (11:19) and Osland (10:30) scored to push the lead to 9-3. Steinke (5:23), Halweg (2:42, 1:11) and Osland (2:01) added goals in the final five minutes of the quarter as the Bennies broke the game open and led, 13-4. 

In the third quarter, Halweg (13:59) tallied her third goal for a 14-4 lead. Fitzgibbons (10:06) scored again followed by a goal from Osland (6:30 for a 16-4 advantage. Hamline had three straight goals before Halweg (10:22), Nelson (7:56), and Fitzgibbons (1:32) close the scoring as the Bennies tied for the third highest goal total this season.