ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- The College of Saint Benedict hockey team returns to MIAC action this weekend with a home-and-home series against St. Catherine on Jan. 16–17, looking to carry momentum from a dominant nonconference stretch into the heart of the league schedule.

The Bennies will open the series on the road Friday night with a 7 p.m. face off in St. Paul, Minn., before welcoming the Wildcats to Ritsche Arena on Saturday for a 6 p.m. puck drop.  

Saint Benedict (8-2-3, 3-1-2 MIAC) has won eight of its first 13 games and sits tied for third place in the MIAC standings with St. Olaf (7-6-0, 4-2-0 MIAC), each with 12 points. St. Catherine (8-5-0, 3-3-0 MIAC) currently ranks sixth in the conference with eight points.

Season Review 
The Bennies most recently extended their winning streak to three games with back-to-back shutouts against Dubuque, outscoring the Spartans, 17-0. In the opener, senior Presley Kraemer (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) recorded her second career hat trick in a 10-0 victory. Sophomore Camryn Hargreaves (Minnetrista, Minn.) added two goals, while first-year Lexi Hueller scored her first collegiate goal. Junior goaltender Savannah Wuitschick (Fargo, N.D.) earned her first career shutout, making 13 saves in her second straight win. The 10-goal outburst marked CSB's highest-scoring game since 2005 and the 13th double-digit performance in program history.

The following night on Senior Day, Saint Benedict completed the sweep with a 7-0 shutout as seven different Bennies found the net. Goaltender Ellynor Haack recorded 10 saves for her second career shutout, while Tana Carlson scored her first collegiate goal and Kraemer capped the weekend with her fourth goal in two games.

The Dubuque series followed a productive series against UW-Superior to open the new year. On Jan. 3 at Ritsche Arena, first-year center Helena Siska (Naperville, Ill.) broke out with her first collegiate hat trick in a 3-1 nonconference win, becoming the first CSB first-year player in a decade to score three goals in a game. Wuitschick again anchored the effort in net, stopping 19 of 20 shots to earn her first collegiate victory with the Bennies. One night earlier, Saint Benedict battled to a 2-2 overtime tie before claiming a 2-0 shootout win.

Prior to the Superior series, the Bennies and Bethel skated to a pair of tightly contested 1-1 overtime ties in MIAC play. Saint Benedict earned the extra league point with a shootout win in the opener, while the Royals responded with a shootout victory in the rematch. The series highlighted CSB's defensive depth and the emergence of first-year goaltender Lexi Badali (St. John, Ind.), who allowed just two goals over 130 minutes. Badali earned MIAC Player of the Week honors after posting a career-high 41 saves on Dec. 5 at Ritsche Arena, the most by a CSB goalie since January 2024 and the second-highest single-game total by any MIAC netminder this season.

Saint Benedict's defensive consistency was also evident during a late-November nonconference sweep at Lake Forest. The Bennies opened the series with a 3-2 win behind goals from Merrill Delich (Andover, Minn.), Jorja Jusczak (Moose Lake, Minn.) and Regan Flohrs (St. Paul, Minn.), with Flohrs scoring her first collegiate goal. The win marked the first career victory for goaltender Sam Knutson (Chicago, Ill.). The following night, Kraemer delivered one of the program's offensive highlights of the season, scoring her first career hat trick in a 6-1 win and earning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Earlier in the year, Saint Benedict split a conference series with St. Olaf and swept St. Scholastica in mid-November. That weekend was highlighted by a four-point performance from senior Mia Lopez (Plymouth, Minn.) and two wins in goal from Badali.

By the Numbers - St. Ben's
Led by head coach Lindsay Macy—who recently became the program's all-time wins leader and now has 45 career victories—the Bennies are averaging 3.3 goals per game while allowing just 1.8. Saint Benedict holds a 32.4-to-23.2 edge in shots per game and has tallied seven power-play goals and three short-handed scores this season.

Siska leads CSB offensively with 13 points on six goals and seven assists while pacing the team with 45 shots. Kraemer leads the Bennies with eight goals, tied for second in the MIAC, and has now scored 20 goals in her career. Her two hat tricks this season are the program's first by a single player since 2001. Junior Ella Tuccitto (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) has eight points on five goals and three assists, matching Delich's total of eight points on three goals and five assists.

In goal, Badali ranks fourth in the MIAC with a 1.55 goals-against average and sits third in both saves (181) and saves per game (25.86), while her .943 save percentage is also third in the conference. As a team, the Bennies own a .920 save percentage and a 1.81 goals-against average.

Scouting the Wildcats
St. Catherine, led by first-year head coach Kayla Chilstrom, enters the weekend averaging 3.2 goals per game while allowing 1.9. The Wildcats outshoot opponents 30.9 to 23.7 per contest and are led offensively by Ana Myers, who has 18 points on 12 goals and six assists.

Series Snapshot
Saint Benedict holds a 27-22-9 advantage in the all-time series with St. Catherine, including a 4-1 win last season on Jan. 18, 2025. The Bennies are 13-11-4 against the Wildcats both at home and on the road. The series dates back to Jan. 24, 1998, when Saint Benedict earned a 5-3 victory in the inaugural meeting.