ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – With four games to play, the (RV) College of Saint Benedict hockey team enters the final stretch of the regular season facing one of the toughest teams in NCAA DIII in (No. 2) Augsburg.

The Bennies, who have received votes in the national polls for four consecutive weeks, open a pivotal home-and-home MIAC series against (No. 2) Augsburg this weekend. Saint Benedict (12-5-4 overall, 7-4-3 MIAC) sits fourth in the conference standings with 26 points, one-point behind (RV) Gustavus Adolphus. Augsburg (17-3-1, 11-2-1 MIAC) is second with 32 points, trailing only Hamline's 34. Friday's matchup is set for 6 p.m., at Ritsche Arena in St. Cloud, Minn., before the teams meet again Saturday at 4 p.m., in Minneapolis.

Saint Benedict currently ranks 16th in the National Collegiate Percentage Index, while Augsburg sits fifth. After this weekend, the Bennies will close the regular season with a Feb. 20–21 home-and-home series against Concordia. The top five teams advance to the MIAC Playoffs, which begin with quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Season Review
Saint Benedict split its most recent series with (RV) Gustavus on Feb. 6-7, earning a 3-0 home victory before falling, 2-0, on the road. The shutout win by CSB ended a 17-game winless streak against the Gusties. Goaltender Lexi Badali (St. John) recorded the first shutout of her career in the breakthrough, while first-year forward Helena Siska (Naperville, Ill.) scored twice. Badali finished the weekend with 67 saves and just one goal allowed, earning her second MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honor.

The Bennies previously battled No. 5 Hamline - skating to a 2-2 overtime tie on Jan. 30 (Hamline won the shootout 1-0) before dropping a 5-1 decision in St. Paul the following night.

Earlier, Saint Benedict split with Saint Mary's. In a 5-4 victory on Jan. 23, Siska scored twice and added an assist, while Emily Wendorf (Minnetrista, Minn.) dished out a career-high four assists. The win pushed CSB's streak to six games before a 1-0 overtime loss the next day ended the run.

That surge included a sweep of St. Catherine, with 4-1 and 2-1 victories. Over a five-game span, the Bennies outscored opponents 26-3. In a Jan. 17 win, Camryn Hargreaves (Minnetrista, Minn.) scored, and Shae Stinnett netted the game-winner with 1:46 remaining. Badali stopped 40 shots across the series, allowing just two goals.

The St. Catherine sweep followed a dominant home-and-home against Dubuque, where Saint Benedict outscored the Spartans 17-0 in back-to-back shutouts. Senior Presley Kraemer (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) recorded her second career hat trick in a 10-0 opener, the program's highest-scoring game since 2005 and its 13th double-digit performance all-time. Hargreaves added two goals, and first-year Lexi Hueller (Maple Grove, Minn.) netted her first collegiate goal. Junior Savannah Wuitschick (Fargo, N.D.) earned her first career shutout.

On Senior Day, the Bennies completed the sweep with a 7-0 victory as seven players scored. Senior Ellynor Haack (St. Paul, Minn.) made 10 saves for her second career shutout, and first-year Tana Carlson (Anchorage, Alaska) scored her first collegiate goal. Kraemer added her fourth goal of the weekend.

Saint Benedict opened January with a strong showing against UW-Superior. On Jan. 3, Siska recorded 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 earned her first collegiate victory with 19 saves. The teams had skated to a 2-2 overtime tie the night before, with the Bennies claiming the shootout.

The Bennies closed 2024 with a pair of 1-1 overtime ties against Bethel, splitting shootout decisions. Badali allowed just two goals over 130 minutes and made a career-high 41 saves on Dec. 5, earning MIAC Player of the Week honors.

Defensive consistency has defined the season. In a late-November sweep at Lake Forest, Merrill Delich (Andover, Minn.), Jorja Jusczak (Moose Lake, Minn.) and Regan Flohrs (St. Paul, Minn.) scored in a 3-2 win, giving Sam Knutson (Chicago, Ill.) her first career victory. The next night, Kraemer tallied her first career hat trick in a 6-1 win and was named MIAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Earlier, the Bennies split with St. Olaf and swept St. Scholastica, highlighted by a four-point weekend from senior Mia Lopez (Plymouth, Minn.) and two wins in net from Badali.

By the Numbers – Inside CSB Hockey
Under head coach Lindsay Macy, the program's all-time wins leader with 49 career victories, Saint Benedict is averaging 2.86 goals per game — third in the MIAC and 21st nationally — while allowing 1.90, fourth in the conference and 29th in Division III. The Bennies hold a 28.2–26.2 edge in shots per game and have nine power-play goals, sixth in the MIAC.

CSB leads the MIAC and ranks third in Division III with four short-handed goals by four different players. Its four shutouts rank third in the conference and 17th nationally. The Bennies' 60 goals are third in the MIAC and 21st in Division III, and their assist total ranks third in the league.

Siska (Naperville, Ill.) and Kraemer (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) share the team lead with 10 goals each, tied for seventh in the MIAC. Kraemer has 22 career goals and 39 career points. Siska ranks 10th in the conference with 20 points on 10 goals and 10 assists. Junior Ella Tuccitto (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) has 11 points, including seven goals, while Hargreaves (Minnetrista, Minn.) also has 11 points.

Badali (St. John) ranks fifth in the MIAC and 30th nationally with a 1.717 goals-against average and holds a .941 save percentage, third in the conference. She is second in the MIAC with 29.43 saves per game and has made 412 saves this season.

Scouting Augsburg
Augsburg, under second-year head coach Elizabeth Bauer, is ranked No. 2 in both national polls. Bauer guided the Auggies to MIAC regular-season and playoff titles last season and to their first NCAA Division III tournament berth, advancing to the national semifinals.

This season, Augsburg has won six straight games since a 6-2 loss to No. 5 Hamline. The Auggies are averaging 3.48 goals per game — second in the MIAC — while allowing 1.67, also second. Nora Stepan ranks second in the conference with 14 goals, while Ella Olson has 11 and Kate Haug, 10.

Series Snapshot
Augsburg leads the all-time series 38-10-11. Saint Benedict snapped a 21-game winless streak in the matchup with a 4-3 overtime victory on Feb. 14, 2025, at Ritsche Arena, where Jenna Timm scored the game-winner.

The Bennies are 4-19-4 at home and 6-18-7 on the road against the Auggies. In the first meeting between the programs on Nov. 22, 1998, Saint Benedict fell 4-1 in Richmond, Minn.