ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After clinching a playoff spot in the WIAC playoffs, the College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (5-6, 3-4 WIAC) travels to UW-Stevens Point (7-7, 1-5 WIAC) in a WIAC road contest on Sunday, April 26 at 3 p.m., to conclude their regular season.
Directed by fourth-year head coach
Patrick Crandall (36 career wins), Saint Benedict sits in fifth place in the WIAC standings with a 3-4 record.
Season Review
The Bennies opened the season with a pair of dominant home victories—21-2 over Edgewood and 21-1 against Milwaukee School of Engineering—before hitting a tougher stretch with losses to Carroll (17-7) and No. 18 Chicago (19-6). In WIAC play, the Bennies fell to UW-River Falls (13-8), No. 24 Colorado College (14-6), and UW-Eau Claire (12-10) before bouncing back with decisive victories over Augsburg (28-1) and UW-Stout (19-5). CSB dropped a close 8-7 decision to UW-La Crosse before defeating Hamline on Senior Night, 20-5, in their most recent contest. With the win against the Pipers, the Bennies clinched its second straight WIAC playoffs berth.
Inside CSB — By the Numbers
Through 11 games, the Bennies hold a 153-97 scoring advantage and are outshooting opponents, 35.0 to 23.5 per game. Saint Benedict is 21-for-62 on free-position attempts, own a 264-204 edge in ground balls, and have posted a 78.6% clear rate while forcing 115 turnovers. CSB has scored 20 or more goals four times, including a program-record 28 against Augsburg.
Senior
Sami Hackley (Plymouth, Minn.) leads the offense with 35 goals and 10 assists for 45 points. She now has 167 career goals and a program-record 205 points, along with 42 multi-goal games. Hackley opened the season with seven goals against Edgewood and added six more in the Bennies' win against Augsburg. Hackley has collected nine multi-goal performances this season and has 44 in her career. Of those multi-goal efforts, she has 19 with four or more goals.
Ava Mosley (Stillwater, Minn.) has totaled 28 goals and eight assists, bringing her career totals to 78 goals and 20 multi-goal games. Mosley opened the season with a five-goal performance and has since added a pair of seven-point outings, recording three goals and four assists against MSOE and five goals and two assists in the Bennies' most recent win over UW–Stout. Mosley has 19 multi-goal games in her career, including nine of four goals or more.
First-year
Rayna Malmberg (Stillwater, Minn.) has contributed 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists), while junior
Lizzie Schrubbe (Andover, Minn.) has recorded seven goals and 22 assists. Schrubbe's five-assist performance against MSOE highlights a career that now includes 55 goals and a program-best 90 assists.
Additional scoring comes from first-year
Emma Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.), who has 23 goals, and
Lilly Fandel Thompson (St. Louis Park, Minn.), who has added 16.
Fischer Earns WIAC Honor
First-year goalkeeper
Ashley Fischer (Madison Lake, Minn.) has been a key presence in net and was named WIAC Defensive Player of the Week on March 17.
Fischer recorded six saves and allowed just one goal in the 21-1 win over MSOE, holding the Raiders scoreless for more than 51 minutes. She posted a career-high 21 saves against UW-River Falls and has reached double-digit saves in five games this season. Through 11 contests, Fischer owns a 8.82 goals-against average with 97 saves and 25 ground balls, tied for the third-most on the team, while facing 259 shots.
Scouting UW-Stevens Point
UW-Stevens Point, led by first-year head coach Katie Lindsley, has scored 133 goals this season while averaging 23.4 shots per game. The Pointers have totaled 327 ground balls and hold a .664 clears percentage.
Marissa Van Dyke (24 goals, 22 assists) leads the Pointers with 46 points. Barrie Bahr leads the team with 25 goals. Emily Griege handles the majority of the goaltending work for UW-Stevens Point and has a 13.64 goals against average.
Series Notes
Saint Benedict defeated UW-Stevens Point, 18-7, last season in the only meeting between the two schools.
