Box Score

DULUTH, Minn.. – The St. Scholastica women's hockey team returned home to Mars Lakeview Arena on Tuesday night, defeating the College of St. Benedict Blazers by a 5-2 final.

The Saints improve to 5-9-1 on the season with the victory while dropping the Blazers to 2-6-3 on the year.

The Blazers got on the board early, scoring just 3:57 into the first as Kelly Fladebo netted her fourth of the season, but the Saints came back just under six minutes later as #Jordan Klimek# netted her fifth of the season, with assists from #Brian Stephens# and #Kiana Leisz#.

Despite outshooting St. Ben's 11-4 in the first period, the Saints had to settle for a 1-1 tie entering the locker room.

CSS pulled ahead off the stick of #Angela Schlieske# just 1:23 into the second period as she netted her first of the year, an unassisted tally.

The Saints continued to pepper the Blazers with shots in the second, finally breaking through to pull ahead by two when #Briget Cojocar# netted her third of the season, as Leisz earned her second assist of the night.

The Blazers went on the powerplay late in the period and brought the score back within one with just 49 seconds remaining in the second as Gretchen Leydecker netted her third of the year. Holly Reinking and Allyson Nielson had the assists.

The score held through the first half of the final frame until a series of penalties put the Saints in an eventual five-on-three advantage. While the Saints didn't officially score on the five-on-three, #Libby Guzzo# netted her fourth of the season just one second after the first penalty. #Michelle Fischer# and Klimek had the assists.

For Guzzo, it was her fourth goal in as many games, setting a new program record on the young campaign. Klimek also has a goal in three straight games.

In the closing seconds of the game, #Michelle Rebeck# netted an empty-net goal to clinch the victory for CSS.

The Saints outshot the Blazers 16-7 in both the second and third period, and earned a program-record 43 shots in the game.

#Rachel Borchardt# earned the victory in goal, stopping 16 of 18 shots by the Blazers. St. Benedict goalie Abbie Helminen stopped 38 shots by the Saints.

CSS finished with four penalties for eight minutes, while St. Ben's finished with five for ten. CSS was one-for-five on the powerplay with 11 shots while the Blazers were one-for-four with three shots.

The Saints continue their homestand on the weekend when the play host to Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) rival Marian University on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The puck drops Friday at 7 p.m. and the action can be seen live online courtesy of the iFan Sports Network on csssaints.com.