ST. CLOUD, Minn. – First year Sean Walsh scored his 10th goal of the season inside the first minute of the game, but the St. Olaf College men's hockey team fell, 3-1, to Saint John's University in its regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

Walsh gave St. Olaf (8-14-3, 5-8-1 MIAC) a very early 1-0 lead by scoring just 55 seconds in, but Saint John's (15-6-2, 8-3-1 MIAC) answered 42 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1 with less than two minutes gone. The Johnnies held the Oles scoreless after Walsh's early goal and got goals from Jackson Sabo and Lewis Crosby – an empty-netter in the closing seconds – to complete the weekend sweep.

After completing its regular-season schedule, St. Olaf awaits results of the final weekend of the regular season next weekend to find out who and when it will play in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs. All nine teams in the conference will make the tournament and seeding is based on point percentage this season.

Less than a minute into the game, first year Ethan Hersant forced a turnover behind the Saint John's goal and got the puck to Walsh in front for a one-timer. With his 10 goals this season, Walsh joined classmate Tyler Cooper in double figures for the season, making them the first pair of Oles with at least 10 goals in a season since Drew Otto '18 and JT Paine '17 in 2016-17.

Hersant's assist was his 12th of the season, which is tied for the highest total by an Ole since Steven Sherman '17 had 17 in his senior season. Hersant has seven assists in his last 10 games dating back to Jan. 15.

The Johnnies responded just 42 seconds later on a goal by Braden Altena to tie the game at 1-1 just 1:37 in. The two early goals were the lone goals of the game until Jackson Sabo broke the deadlock at 15:37 of the second period with the eventual game-winning goal.

Lewis Crosby tacked on an empty-net goal for Saint John's with 14 seconds remaining after St. Olaf pulled first year Thomas Lalonde with 2:25 to go while in search of a tying goal. The Johnnies held a 39-26 advantage in shots on goal in the game.
Michael Magnuson stopped 25-of-26 shots for Saint John's to pick up the win, while Lalonde had a career-high 36 stops in the loss for St. Olaf. Both teams were 0-for-5 on the power play in the game.

Once it is determined, information about St. Olaf's matchup in the MIAC Playoffs will be posted at athletics.stolaf.edu.