NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team scored three third-period goals to claim a 3-1 victory over Augsburg University in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series opener on Friday night at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

After a scoreless opening 26-plus minutes, St. Olaf (5-4-2, 3-1-1 MIAC) broke through on a goal by junior Tyler Cooper and tacked on two more goals over the final four minutes of the period to take a three-goal lead into the second intermission. The Oles were less than a minute away from their first-ever sweep of Augsburg (4-3-1, 2-1-0 MIAC) before the Auggies scored with 36 seconds remaining.

Junior Matthew Pointer and first year Tony Leahy joined Cooper in tallying goals in the win, while Tyler Green had his first-career multi-point game with a pair of assists. The two-assist night gave Green a share of the team lead with five this season. Junior Thomas Lalonde picked up his second victory of the season with a 26-save evening and was less than a minute from the fourth shutout of his career.

With the game still scoreless, Cooper broke the deadlock at 7:13 of the first period by scoring his fourth goal of the season – tied for the highest total on the team – after Green and senior Troy Bowditch combined to get the puck in front to the junior. Late in the period, Pointer scored his first goal of the season just six seconds into a St. Olaf power play, throwing the puck in on the backhand after first year Joey Kennelly set up Green's initial shot from the slot that produced a rebound for Pointer.

Before the second period was over, the Oles stretched their lead to 3-0 when sophomore Jack Boxer held the puck in the offensive zone and threw the puck towards the net to Leahy, who took care of the rest to cap the three-goal period. Leahy's goal came with less than nine seconds remaining in the period, with Boxer picking up his first point of the season.

Michael Ferrandino registered the lone goal of the final period for Augsburg, scoring with 36 seconds to go for a late consolation for the visitors. Samuel Vyletelka made 30 saves on the night for Augsburg.

St. Olaf goes for the sweep on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis.