ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Senior center Mia Lopez (Plymouth, Minn.) scored twice and first-year goaltender Lexi Badali (St. John, Ind.) earned a victory in her collegiate debut as the College of Saint Benedict opened MIAC play with a 5–3 win over the College of St. Scholastica on Friday night at Ritsche Arena.

The Bennies (1–1, 1–0 MIAC) surged to a 5–0 lead before St. Scholastica (2–2, 0–1 MIAC) clawed back with three power-play goals in the final 25 minutes. CSB travels to Duluth on Saturday for the second game of the home-and-home series with the Saints.

Lopez recorded the sixth and seventh goals of her career, scoring late in the first period and again midway through the second. Badali steadied CSB in her first collegiate start, finishing with 29 saves.

CSB opened the scoring on a power play at 5:37 of the first period when sophomore Merrill Delich (Andover, Minn.) buried an unassisted goal—her first of the season and second of her career. Lopez made it 2–0 at 16:46 off assists from junior Shae Stinnett (North Oaks, Minn.) and Sasha Kleckner (Anchorage, Alaska).

The Bennies stretched their lead to 3–0 in the final minute of the first when first-year forward Helena Siska (Naperville, Ill.) tallied her first collegiate goal off an assist from Jorja Jusczak (Moose Lake, Minn.).

Lopez struck again at 11:19 of the second period, taking a setup from Regan Flohrs (St. Paul, Minn.). Senior Kaya Pelton-Byce (Madison, Wis.) then added her first goal of the season—and third of her career—at 13:55 off a pass from Delich to push the lead to 5–0.

St. Scholastica answered with a power-play goal from Grace Chapman at 15:17 of the second. The Saints added two more power-play tallies in the third: one from Bailey Cooley at 11:59 and another from Morgan Mitchell at 12:32 off assists from Alaina Hedberg and Emma Laming.

CSB finished with a 32–31 edge in shots and won 29 of 64 faceoffs. Lopez won 6 of 10 draws, while Renee Doyle went 5-for-8. CSS went 3-for-6 on the power play; the Bennies finished 2-for-5.