WINONA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team dropped the opener of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series against Saint Mary's University, 4-1, on Friday evening at Saint Mary's Ice Arena.

First year Tyler Cooper netted his third goal of the season at 6:06 of the second period to bring St. Olaf (3-6-2, 2-2-1 MIAC) even at a goal apiece, but Saint Mary's (3-7-1, 2-3-0 MIAC) went back ahead 1:31 later. The Cardinals went on to tack on a pair of goals in the third period as the Oles fell to 0-5-1 on the road this season.

Bud Winter gave Saint Mary's the lead just 3:06 into the game and took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission after outshoot St. Olaf by a 14-6 margin in the opening 20 minutes. In the second, Cooper tied the game at 1-1 by poking in a rebound off a shot by junior Ashton Altmann, who had gotten in behind the Cardinals' defense.

The goal was Cooper's team-leading ninth point in nine games this season and extended his point streak to three-straight games. Saint Mary's answered just over a minute and a half, however, when Laudon Poelinger put the Cardinals back on top with the eventual game-winning goal.

Andrew Froese stretched the Saint Mary's lead to 3-1 at 6:33 of the third before Trevor Wilhelm added a power-play goal with 2:16 remaining. The Cardinals were 1-for-4 on the man advantage and killed off all four St. Olaf power plays in the game.

Senior Cooper Lukenda had 29 saves in the loss for the Oles, while Matt Sankner made 20 stops for the hosts.

St. Olaf and Saint Mary's conclude their series on Saturday, Dec. 4 with a 2 p.m. puck drop at St. Olaf Ice Arena.