NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After winning the tournament for the second time in program history last season, the fifth-seeded St. Olaf College men's hockey team returns to Moorhead to face fourth-seeded Concordia-Moorhead in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Friday night.

St. Olaf (13-10-2, 7-8-1 MIAC) opens its defense of its MIAC Playoffs title from a year ago at the site where its postseason run began, as the Oles visit Concordia (12-11-2, 9-6-1 MIAC) in the quarterfinals on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at Moorhead Sports Center. Last season, St. Olaf got a very late goal to claim a 3-2 quarterfinal win for the first of three-straight road victories on its way to claiming the trophy.

Per MIAC policy, admission will be charged for all postseason games. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $2 for students (children five and under are free). There is no senior discount and MIAC Passes are honored. No other passes are valid. Tickets can be bought at Moorhead Sports Center (no online or advanced sales). Live video and live stats will be available.

The winner of Friday night's game will advance to the semifinals to take on the top-seeded College of St. Scholastica in the semifinals on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in Duluth. The other semifinal between third-seeded Saint John's University and second-seeded Augsburg University will take place in Minneapolis on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. The championship game is set for Saturday, March 4 at 7 p.m. at the site of the highest remaining seed.

St. Olaf is making the 14th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs in program history and has a record of 11-12-0 in the tournament. The Oles are in the tournament under the five-team format for the first time since appearing in the tournament in nine out of 11 seasons from 2004-14. St. Olaf has appeared in the semifinals in 11 of its 13 previous berths in the MIAC Playoffs.

This season marks the 18th time Concordia has qualified for the MIAC Playoffs and the Cobbers have been in the field in 11 of the last 12 editions of the tournament dating back to 2011. The Cobbers are 11-18-2 all-time in the MIAC Playoffs and won the tournament in both 1987 and 2000. Concordia has lost its opening game in the tournament in seven of its last nine appearances.

Friday night's matchup will be the third all-time postseason meeting between the Oles and Cobbers. Last season, then-first-year Sean Walsh scored with 1:01 remaining to give seventh-seeded St. Olaf a 3-2 victory over second-seeded Concordia. The only meeting prior to that was a 5-3 win for the fourth-seeded Oles against the fifth-seeded Cobbers in the quarterfinals in Northfield in 2014. Concordia swept the regular-season series from St. Olaf, picking up consecutive 5-2 victories on Jan. 27-28 (game 1 recap | game 2 recap).