NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Sophomore Mary Kate Eiden gave the St. Olaf College women's hockey team an early lead, but the College of Saint Benedict rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Oles in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) action on Friday night at Northfield Ice Arena.

Eiden scored her second goal of the season just 2:32 into the game for St. Olaf (0-5-0, 0-3-0 MIAC), but Julia Pias and Riley Schneider led the Saint Benedict (2-3-0, 1-2-0 MIAC) rally by each posting a goal and an assist. The Oles were unbeaten (3-0-1) in the last four meetings with the Bennies.

With 2:32 gone in the opening period, Eiden gave the Oles the early advantage, getting a backhand shot past Kailee Medved after collecting a centering pass from senior Xandi Swedberg. Senior Molly Andrews also earned an assist on the play after feeding the puck up ice to a streaking Swedberg.

Pias tied the game at 1-1 at 13:44 of the first period off assists from Annika Brodt and Schneider. Schneider threw the puck towards the net from the right circle and Sam Klemann denied Brodt's initial tip, but Pias was on hand to tap home the rebound.

The score stayed 1-1 until 6:56 of the second when Schneider jammed home a rebound after Klemann made a pair of saves on close-range attempts by the Bennies for the game-winning goal. Klemann made 19 saves for the Oles, while Medved had 23 for Saint Benedict.

St. Olaf had the game's lone power-play opportunity midway through the third period and managed seven shots on the power play, but Medved saved both of the Ole shots on goal to kill off the penalty.

Still in search of a tying goal, St. Olaf pulled Klemann with 2:02 to go, but Medved made two more saves to preserve the victory for Saint Benedict.

The Oles and Bennies complete their series on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. in St. Cloud.