ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team (10-6-3, 7-4-1 MIAC) will face No. 4 Gustavus Adolphus (15-4-0, 10-2-0) in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8. The Bennies host the Gusties at 6 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Ritsche Arena after playing in St. Peter, Minn., on Friday, at 7 p.m. 

CSB, directed by third year head coach Lindsay Macy, has started the season with a 10-6-3 overall record and own a 7-4-1 MIAC record which is fourth in the league with 21 MIAC points. CSB sits two points ahead of Hamline (11-8-0, 6-6-0 MIAC) with 19 points and St. Olaf (8-10-1, 5-6-1 MIAC) with 16 points. 

Over the past 16 games, the Bennies have a 10-4-2 record, which includes a 6-0 win over the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Jan. 11 plus a sweep of St. Catherine, 6-2 and 4-1. CSB took 3-1 and 3-2 losses to (RV) Saint Mary's (11-5-0, 6-4-0 MIAC) on Jan. 24-25 and earned a split with Hamline by falling 7-3 on the road on Jan. 31 and recording a 3-2 win at home on Feb. 1 when  senior Jenna Timm delivered the game-winning goal. On Dec. 6-7, CSB split a home and road series with Bethel. St. Ben's took a 2-0 loss at home on Dec. 6 before bouncing back with a 4-1 road win at Bethel. Just before the holiday break, CSB had a 4-4 tie with Wisconsin-Superior (UWS won in a shootout, 2-0). During the holiday break, the Bennies traveled to Sweden and Finland and played a trio of exhibition games.

Quick Review
St. Benedict opened the season with a loss to then No. 1 and defending national DIII champion UW-River Falls (15-2-2), 8-2 in River Falls, Wis. Then CSB took a 5-4 road loss to UW-Superior on Nov. 5 as first-year Camryn Hargreaves had two goals. On Nov. 12, the Bennies and UW-Superior played to a 2-2 tie (Yellowjackets had a 2-0 advantage in the shootout for the point). On Nov. 15-16, the Bennies rebounded by winning a 2-1 overtime decision at St. Scholastica and then recorded a 5-0 win against the Saints a night later. St. Ben's defeated St. Olaf, 2-1 in overtime on the road on Nov. 22 and had a 2-2 draw with the Oles at home on Nov. 23 in which CSB earned the two conference points with a 1-0 verdict in the overtime shootout (Ella Tuccitto goal).

Prior to Thanksgiving (Nov. 26-27) the Bennies dominated a two-game home nonconference series with Northland by recording wins of 5-0 and 7-0. In the victories, goalies Delaney Norman and Ellynor Haack recorded shutouts. Hargreaves had three goals and Skylar Salscheider had four assists to lead the way in the two wins. CSB recorded a season-high seven goals in the second win against Northland in which Salscheider had three assists and Hargreaves scored two goals.

Through 19 games, St. Benedict has totaled 64 goals (3.4) and allowed 44 (2.3). The Bennies have outshot their opponents, 664-to-474. In goal, CSB has 428 saves, with opponents at 594. In power plays, CSB has a 30.8% (12-of-39) power play rate while their opponents sit at 16.4% (10-of-61). CSB has won 602 face-offs and lost 532 for a 53.1 %-win rate.

About Gustavus
Nationally ranked throughout the year, Gustavus moved up to No. 4 in the USCHO National Poll this week. In his 26^th season, Mike Carroll has a 529-132-48 record. He has led the Gusties to 18 MIAC regular season titles. Since a 2-0 road lass against Saint Mary's, the Gusties have won five straight games, including a 3-2 win over then No. 1 UW-River Falls on Jan. 18 on the road. Last weekend, they recorded 5-4 and 4-1 wins over Bethel. Gustavus has accumulated 73 goals (3.8 per game) on 606 shots while allowing 40 goals (2.1 per game) on 343 shots. They have 303 saves against 533 for opponents. In power plays, the Gusties have a 29.7 success rate with opponents at 15.5 percent. Lily Mortenson leads the team with 33 points, scoring 14 goals and dishing 19 assists – both team-bests. Kaitlyn Holland has 10 goals and 11 assists while both Noelle Hemr and Brooke Power have recorded nine goals. Goalie Lily Timmons has a 13-3-0 record with three shutouts.
 
Series Notes
CSB trails in the all-time series, 3-50-1, including 15 straight losses. In the most recent matchup, Gustavus took a 6-1 win. CSB is 1-24-1 at home against the Gusties and stand 2-25-0 on the road with a 3-47-1 conference mark. CSB lost the first-ever matchup on Nov. 16, 1997.

Player Notes
Sophomore Shae Stinnett leads CSB in points with 14 points, including seven goals and seven assists. She is 16th in the league in points. First-year Camryn Hargreaves has netted seven goals and five assists for 12 points, which is tied for second on Saint Benedict with senior Aurora Opsahl, who has five goals and seven assists. Sophomore defender Emily Wendorf ranks fourth on CSB with 11 points, which includes two goals and nine assists. Junior center Mia Lopez is tied with three others with 10 points. She has five goals and five assists along with a game-winning goal. Senior Jenna Timm has 10 points with five goals and five assists and two game-winning goals. Also at 10 points is Ella Tuccitto (four goals, six assists) and Skylar Salscheider (one goal, nine assists). Earlier this year, Wendorf earned the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week with two goals and two assists in a sweep of St. Catherine. In total 19 players have scored a goal with 15 tallying two or more goals.

Senior goaltender, Kate Moffat, who was the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 18, has a .909 saves percentage (8th, MIAC) with 31 goals allowed and 309 saves in 14 games. Her goal against average of 2.43 is eighth in the MIAC. With five career shutouts Moffat ranks fourth all-time. Moffat, who is now 7-5-1 on the season, has 19 career wins, placing her second all-time at CSB.

Senior forward Ava Stinnett, who has four goals this season, played in 83 career games, scoring 29 goals, and recording 26 assists, with 246 shots on goal. She ranks 10th all-time at CSB in goals (10th, Mollie Wise, 29, 2016-20). With six game-winning goals, she is tied for fifth in program history.

After scoring goals in back-to-back games with Hamline and tallying three goals in the past four games, Opsahl has 35 career goals which is sixth all-time at CSB.  She has totaled 69 points, which also places her seventh all-time at CSB. Opsahl is coming off seasons of 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 2022-23 and 13 goals and seven assists in 2023-24. She has eight game-winning goals, which places her tied with Susan Engel (2001-05) for the career lead at CSB.

Timm has totaled 17 career goals with 34 career assists, a mark which is sixth all-time at CSB. She has tallied 51 points and made 215 shots. In her career she has totaled six game-winning goals, which is ninth all-time at CSB.