DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team cut a 3-0 third-period deficit to one at 3-2 but could not complete the comeback in a 4-2 loss to the College of St. Scholastica in the series finale between the two teams on Saturday night at Mars Lakeview Arena.

After St. Scholastica (10-5-2, 7-0-1 MIAC) took the series opener by a 7-4 score the night before, the Saints scored three second-period goals to take a 3-0 lead into the third period. St. Olaf (11-7-1, 5-5-0 MIAC) generated a rally in the third to get within a goal with 1:05 to play before the hosts sealed the win and series sweep with an empty-netter with one second left.

Sophomore Sean Walsh had a hand in both goals for the Oles in the third period, scoring at the 7:29 mark before picking up an assist on classmate Connor Kalthoff's goal with a little over a minute to go.

After a scoreless first period, Arkhip Ledenkov scored just 33 seconds into the second period to break the deadlock for St. Scholastica. The Saints proceeded to stretch their lead to 3-0 after two on back-to-back goals by Carsen Richels, as the hosts scored three times in the first 10:49 of the middle period.

Trailing by three, St. Olaf started its rally on Walsh's sixth goal of the season, as the sophomore scored on a backhand off a feed from the back wall by sophomore Matthew Pointer. The Oles continued to push for a second goal and were rewarded with 1:05 remaining when Kalthoff dumped the puck into the offensive zone from near center ice and the puck found its way into the net after a misjudgment by the St. Scholastica netminder.

In a one-goal game, St. Olaf again pulled goaltender Tyler Laureault after Kalthoff's extra-attacker goal but iced the puck shortly thereafter to force Laureault back into the net with a defensive-zone face-off. The Oles managed to get the puck out of their zone and get Laureault to the bench again, only for Lenenkov to score an empty-netter seconds later for his second goal of the game.

Ledenkov had two goals and two assists in the win for St. Scholastica, while twin brother Filimon Ledenkov recorded four assists. Richels added two goals and one assist, as the trio combined for 11 of the Saints' 12 points.

Laureault took the loss despite making 29 saves for St. Olaf, while Jack Bostedt collected the win with a 30-save night for St. Scholastica.

St. Olaf hits the road next weekend for two games at Concordia-Moorhead. The series opener is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27 at Moorhead Sports Center.