NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team built a 3-1 lead before visiting Concordia College (Minn.) scored three times in the final four minutes to steal a 4-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory on Friday night at Northfield Ice Arena.

A pair of goals from senior Xandi Swedberg helped St. Olaf (0-7-1, 0-4-1 MIAC) build a 3-1 lead early in the third period, but Concordia (4-3-1, 4-0-1 MIAC) kept its unbeaten start to MIAC play alive with three goals in the space of 2:26 inside the final four minutes. Swedberg's two-goal game was the second of her career and the first since her first year as an Ole.

Swedberg gave the Oles a 1-0 lead late in the opening period, scoring a power-play goal at 16:10 off assists from Mary Kate Eiden and Kalli McCullen. From behind the net, Eiden found Swedberg wide open at the inside edge of the right circle and the senior picked out the top-right corner for St. Olaf's second power-play goal of the season.

The Cobbers outshot the Oles, 14-4, in the opening 20 minutes and were rewarded with a shorthanded goal by Sage Barta with just less than eight seconds remaining in the first period to send the teams to the locker room tied at a goal apiece.

At 7:30 of the second period, junior Michaela Crowley gave St. Olaf the lead again by forcing a turnover deep in the Concordia zone and firing a shot that took a deflection and beat the Cobbers' goalie. First year Jackie LaFaive earned her first collegiate point with an assist on Crowley's first of the year.

The Oles protected their one-goal lead into the third period and stretched it to two goals on an unassisted shorthanded goal by Swedberg at 2:32 of the third. The senior stole the puck off a Concordia defenseman near center ice and fired the puck into the top-right corner of the net on a breakaway to give St. Olaf a 3-1 advantage.

Concordia made it a one-goal game at 16:04 of the third period on a goal by Kaitlyn Page and got a power-play opportunity at the same time. Just 56 seconds later, Megan Mohr cashed in on the power play to tie the game at 3-3, prompting an Ole timeout.

Another St. Olaf penalty at 17:57 gave Concordia another chance on the power play and the visitors grabbed the game-winning goal from Amanda Flemming at 18:30. The Oles pulled their goalie in search of a late tying goal over the final 1:20 but were
unable to add to their season-high three-goal tally.

Concordia held a 43-13 advantage in shots on goal in the game. Junior Sam Klemann suffered the loss despite a 39-save effort with 19 of her 39 stops coming in the third period. Nicole Schulz made just one save over the final 17:29 for Concordia to pick up the win after relieving Emily Musielewicz after Swedberg's shorthanded goal.

The Oles and Cobbers finish off their weekend series on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. in St. Olaf's final game at Northfield Ice Arena.