NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After advancing to the championship game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with wins over the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, the seventh-seeded St. Olaf College men's hockey team will take on top-seeded and fourth-ranked Augsburg University in the title game on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
St. Olaf (10-14-3) booked its spot in the championship game with a 3-1 victory at third-seeded Saint John's on Wednesday evening and will face regular-season champion Augsburg (24-3-0) on its home ice with the MIAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament on the line. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis on Saturday, March 5.
As of Friday morning, the game is sold out. Fans can follow along via live video and live statistics. Families of St. Olaf men's hockey student-athletes will be able to pick up their tickets at the door on Saturday evening starting at 5 p.m. Crowd size will be monitored and limited, due to fire code capacity. Door open at 5:30 p.m.
In accordance with Augsburg and MIAC regulations, mask-wearing is required and no pets (other than certified service animals) are permitted. Concessions will be available at the rink. Fans can also follow along via live
video/statistics.
St. Olaf booked its spot in the MIAC Championship game for the third time in program history – first since 2012 – with a
3-1 victory over Saint John's in the semifinals on Wednesday night, getting a game-winning power-play goal from first year
Tyler Cooper at 7:20 of the third period. The goal came less than two minutes after the Johnnies had tied the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal of their own.
Sophomore
Noah Heisler added an empty-net goal in the final minute to seal the win, scoring for the second time in as many playoff games after only scoring once during the regular season. Sophomore
Lukas Haugen matched his career high with 33 saves in the win and first year
Jonathan Young also scored for the second-straight postseason game, opening the scoring for the second game in a row in the first period.
The win improved St. Olaf's all-time record in the MIAC Playoffs to 10-12-0 and got the Oles to the championship game for the third time (2006, 2012, 2022). St. Olaf is 1-1 all-time in MIAC Championship games, winning the title as the No. 3 seed with a 5-1 win at top-seeded St. Thomas in 2006 and falling to second-seeded Gustavus as the No. 4 seed by a 4-2 score in 2012.
After winning the 11th MIAC regular-season title in program history with a 14-2-0 record in conference play, Augsburg advanced to championship game for the sixth time by
routing fifth-seeded Bethel, 7-0, on Wednesday night behind a four-goal performance from Fritz Belisle and the fifth shutout of the season by Samuel Vyletelka. In the quarterfinals, the Auggies needed overtime to
oust ninth-seeded Gustavus, 4-3, on a goal by Austin Martinsen 7:35 into the extra session.
The Auggies have won the conference's postseason crown on all five of their previous appearances in the championship game, winning their first title in 1998 before claiming four-straight titles from 2016-19. Augsburg is the No. 1 seed in the tournament for the third time in program history (2016, 2019, 2022) and its five titles are tied with Gustavus and Saint John's for the second-highest total of any MIAC program (St. Thomas – 11).
St. Olaf and Augsburg are meeting for just the second time ever in the MIAC Playoffs. The fourth-seeded Auggies won the lone previous encounter in overtime, 3-2, over the fifth-seeded Oles in the quarterfinals in 2010.
