ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team secured its spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs by blanking Gustavus Adolphus College, 3-0, in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink.

After entering the game knowing a win would be enough to clinch a playoff spot, St. Olaf (13-10-2, 7-8-1 MIAC) shut out Gustavus (3-19-3, 1-13-2 MIAC) for the second night in a row and got goals from first year Spencer Light, sophomore Ben Luscko, and junior Noah Heisler to complete the job. Sophomore Thomas Lalonde recorded his second shutout in as many nights by stopping all 25 shots on goal the Gusties managed.

With the victory, St. Olaf – which won the tournament last season after all teams qualified for the field – earned its first berth in the MIAC Playoffs in the five-team format since 2014. The Oles will be the No. 5 seed and travel to No. 4 seed Concordia-Moorhead in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Earlier in the day, the Cobbers eliminated Saint Mary's University (Minn.) and clinched the No. 4 seed with a 4-1 win in Winona. That result meant the Oles needed two points to book their spot in the playoffs, regardless of the result of Bethel University's game against Hamline University.

Light got St. Olaf out to an early lead by tallying his third goal of the season – his second in the last three games – at the 6:26 mark of the opening period off an assist from senior Evan Shoemaker. After Shoemaker's shot from the right circle was not held, Light was there to score on the rebound for the lone goal of the opening period.

The Oles doubled their lead at 9:53 of the second period when Luscko threw the puck towards the net from near the side wall just inside the blue line and the puck made its way through traffic into the net. The goal was Luscko's third of the season – his first since Dec. 2 – and was assisted by sophomore Eric Brown, who had his first-career two-assist game in the win.

Less than five minutes later, Heisler tallied the game's final goal when Heisler fired the puck home from the slot with assists from Brown and sophomore Tyler Cooper for Heisler's third goal of the season. Lalonde helped St. Olaf record back-to-back shutouts for the first time since Nov. 26-27, 2010 by stopping all 25 shots he faced, including making 11 saves in the third period, in the win.

Puck drop for Thursday's quarterfinal game is set for 7 p.m. at Moorhead Sports Center, with the winner moving on to take on the regular-season champion and top-seeded College of St. Scholastica in the semifinals.