CSB lacrosse looks to build off strong inaugural season

The College of St. Benedict’s lacrosse team has started the season with a 2-3 record. In a recent match against Hamline, the Bennies scored their second win of the season with sophomore Grace Fitzgibbons and first-year Emma Nelson leading the Bennies to a 16-6 victory. Fitzgibbons scored a season-best five goals, and Nelson had her second hat trick of the season. An additional four players also had multi-goal games against Hamline.

“A highlight that I have is seeing our stats as a team and seeing that a large number of girls are having points in every game. This is awesome to see that our [first-years] are fitting in very well with collegiate lacrosse,” sophomore Sami Hackley said.

In the team’s first game of the season against DII Northern Michigan, first-year Lizzie Schrubbe and Fitzgibbons showcased their scoring abilities, despite CSB lacrosse ultimately suffering a loss. Their performance underscored the team’s resilience and determination, despite facing tough competition.

“Having a hard schedule tends to come with more losses. I think this is sometimes hard on a program since we have lost the majority of our games so far, but I think that just makes winning that much more rewarding,” Hackley said.

In another match against UW-La Crosse, Schrubbe and sophomore Emma Osland led the offense by each tallying two goals. Schrubbe, who had a team-high eight shots on the day, now has four goals on the season and a team-high 13 shots. First-years Breya Sawyer, Emma Halweg and Nelson also had their first goals of the season.

Despite the team’s efforts, they were unable to secure a victory against UW-La Crosse. However, Nelson says the team continues to get stronger as they have more experience playing together.

“Each person on this team has an important role. A lot of us are new and we are all learning how we each play a part in the success of our team, but I think it’s developing, and the recent results are showing that,” Nelson said.

The following day, the Bennies turned their momentum around with a 19-4 victory against the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). Hackley and Schrubbe led the team with four goals each, with Nelson and Fitzgibbons following closely behind with three and two goals, respectively. Schrubbe’s additional five assists resulted in a program-best nine game points.

“Our offense is starting to find their rhythm and is putting our system into play more and more each competition. Also, the defense is starting to have some success as they are finding the groove and building off each other,” head coach Patrick Crandall said.

Although the Bennies lost to UW-Eau Claire, Hackley scored seven goals against them, breaking the school record and earning her the honors of St. Cloud Orthopedics/CSB Athlete of the Week. She broke the mark of six goals in a game set by Fitzgibbons against Augsburg on April 29, 2023.

This season, Hackley has scored 11 goals and two assists for a total of 13 points, ranking second in CSB history. She also has a team high 11 ground balls and seven draw controls. Halweg also scored two goals against UW-EC for the first time in her career.

The team’s record has improved after a slow start to the season, and they plan on bringing this to the upcoming conference play.

“This group is very competitive, and they have been working hard in practice pushing each other to get better each day,” Crandall said.

According to Hackley, the team and coaching staff have a goal of making it to the conference championship this year.

The CSB lacrosse program believes that if they put in the work, they have a chance of winning it this year. Looking past the conference championship, the Bennies have their eyes on the NCAA national tournament in Chicago.

“To continue on to play in Chicago for the NCAA national tournament this year would be a huge goal for myself as well as the team,” sophomore Ella Steinke said. The Bennies will take on Elmhurst University in Illinois on Saturday