ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — With the momentum of a successful road swing, the College of Saint Benedict hockey team returns to MIAC action this weekend with a home-and-home series against Bethel. The Bennies (5–2, 3–1 MIAC) open the set Friday, Dec. 5, with a 7 p.m., game in St. Paul before hosting the Royals at 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6 at Ritsche Arena.

CSB enters the series having won five of its first seven games, highlighted by last weekend's sweep at Lake Forest. The Bennies edged the Foresters 3–2 in the opener, a game that featured goalie Sam Knutson's first collegiate victory and the first career goal for Regan Flohrs. Merrill Delich and Jorja Jusczak also scored.

In the earning a sweep over Lake Forest, senior forward Presley Kraemer delivered her first career hat trick, earning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors as well as The House/St. Cloud Orthopedics CSB Athlete of the Week. First-year forward Helena Siska added a goal and two assists, while sophomore goalie Lexi Badali picked up the win.

The sweep followed a split with St. Olaf in league play. Badali posted her first collegiate shutout in a 1–0 win, backstopped by an Emily Wendorf goal. CSB dropped the rematch 5–1. Earlier this season, the Bennies opened MIAC play with a sweep of St. Scholastica, led by a four-point weekend from senior Mia Lopez and two wins from Badali.

After the Bethel series, Saint Benedict will break until a Jan. 2–3 nonconference home-and-home with UW–Superior.

Scouting Bethel
Bethel (3–3, 1–3 MIAC) is led by head coach Brian Carlson, who has 174 career wins in his 17th season. The Royals opened with a sweep of Milwaukee School of Engineering before dropping three straight MIAC contests — two to St. Catherine and one to No. 11 Hamline — then rebounded with a 4–0 shutout of Hamline on Nov. 22, handing the Pipers their first loss of the season.

The Royals are averaging 3.2 goals per game while allowing just 1.7, and they hold a substantial shots-on-goal advantage over opponents (34.2 to 22.0). Bethel has scored four power-play goals and is winning more than half of its faceoffs (54.6 percent). Sophie Martin leads the team with four goals and seven points, while Rylen Kissell (1–5–6) and Kallie Tibbetts (2–4–6) are also key producers.

Series Snapshot
Bethel holds an 18–28–6 edge in the all-time series. Last season, the teams split: CSB won, 4–1, in St. Paul on Dec. 7, and Bethel answered with a 2–0 victory in St. Joseph the following day. The series began in 2000 with a dominant 14–0 CSB win, the start of seven straight victories for the Bennies. CSB is 6–17–3 at home against Bethel and 11–11–3 on the road, with a 16–28–6 record in conference matchups.

Inside the Bennies
Head coach Lindsay Macy recently became the program's all-time wins leader with 42 career victories. Her team is averaging 2.7 goals per game and allowing the same number while generating nearly 30 shots per outing. CSB has scored four power-play goals and added two short-handed tallies.

Delich and Siska share the team scoring lead with six points apiece, each posting two goals and four assists. Kraemer's hat trick last weekend pushed her to a team-high three goals, while four other players have scored twice.

Badali is 4–1–0 with a .932 save percentage and 1.82 goals-against average, ranking among the MIAC's top goaltenders. She has 124 saves — the third-highest total in the conference — while Knutson has added 31 stops to the team's 155-save total.