NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team cut a three-goal deficit to one in the third period but could not complete the comeback in a 3-2 loss to Saint John's University on Saturday at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

Saint John's (13-9-3, 9-5-2 MIAC) built a 3-0 lead midway through the second period before St. Olaf (11-10-2, 5-8-1 MIAC) got a goal in the second and another before the midway point of the third to make it a one-goal game. In a frantic final two-plus minutes, the Oles generated several quality scoring chances with the extra attacker but could not find a tying goal.

With the win, the Johnnies clinched a spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs in their final game of the regular season. Despite the loss, St. Olaf remains alive in the playoff race, as the Oles are seventh in the standings but are just two points behind Saint Mary's University, which currently occupies the fifth and final playoff position.

Saint John's got the lone goal of the opening period from Joe Papa at the 12:22 mark before tacking on two goals in the first half of the second period to stretch its lead to 3-0. Less than three minutes after the Johnnies' third goal, first year Jonathan Panisa got the Oles on the board with his second goal of the weekend.

First year Gunnar Johnson started the play that led to Panisa's eighth goal of the season, circling behind the Saint John's goal from the right before finding junior Brendan Darby in front for an attempted re-directed shot. The loose puck fell to Panisa, who lifted the puck in from near the left goal post to make it a 3-1 game after two periods. The Oles killed off 1:39 of 5-on-3 power-play time for the Johnnies after Panisa's goal to stay in the game.

First year Spencer Light brought St. Olaf within a goal at the 7:01 mark of the third period with his second goal of the season and his first since the season opener. After initially being set up by sophomore Ben Luscko, Light's shot from the left side ricocheted to senior Evan Shoemaker, whose shot missed an empty net but fell back to Light, who fired the puck in on the second attempt.

Still trailing by a goal in the final three minutes, the Oles generated 11 shots during an extended period in the offensive zone but got just three of the 11 shots on goal. St. Olaf had the puck in the net with 33.7 seconds remaining after Panisa fired home a rebound off his own initial shot, but the goal was ruled off due to contact with the Saint John's goaltender. Bailey Huber preserved the win for the Johnnies in the final seconds, coming to the top of the crease to get a piece of a blast by sophomore Tyler Cooper from between the circles.

Sophomore Thomas Lalonde had 12 of his 23 saves in the game in the opening period for St. Olaf, while Huber finished the game with 17 saves for Saint John's.

The Oles begin the final weekend of the regular season at home against Gustavus Adolphus College on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.