NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team dropped its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series opener to the College of Saint Benedict in overtime, 2-1, on Friday night at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

After St. Olaf (2-5-0, 0-3-0 MIAC) and Saint Benedict (3-2-1, 3-0-0 MIAC) traded first-period goals, the game remained locked at a goal apiece until Shae Stinnett scored 1:44 into the 3-on-3 overtime to give the Bennies the extra point in the conference standings. Four of the Oles' five losses this season have come by one-goal margins.

Saint Ben's grabbed the opening goal through Chloe Lewis at 8:12 of the first period, as Lewis poked the puck home from close range after the puck slid through the crease following an initial shot by Lewis. St. Olaf struck back a little more than six minutes later on the third goal of the season by junior Solvei Berg-Messerole.

After junior Molly Terebayza tapped the puck to Berg-Messerole in the neutral zone, Berg-Messerole weaved from left to right in the offensive zone before flipping a backhand in from the lower edge of the right circle. The three goals moved Berg-Messerole into a tie with senior Sophie McBane for the team lead.

In overtime, Stinnett's game-winner came just seconds after Terebayza nearly won it for the Oles. Moffat made a pad save to deny Terebayza before the Bennies went the other way, culminating in a Stinnett shot to the top-right corner off a feed from Mia Lopez.

St. Olaf outshot Saint Ben's by a 33-22 margin in shots on goal and a 62-39 margin overall but was 0-for-6 on the power play in the loss. Kate Moffat stopped 32 of the 33 shots she faced for the Bennies, while first year Olivia Last saved 21 of the 23 she faced for the Oles in her second collegiate start.

The two teams will conclude their series on Saturday, Nov. 23 in a 6 p.m. puck drop at Ritsche Arena in St. Cloud.