DULUTH, Minn. – The fifth-seeded St. Olaf College men's hockey team is set to take on the top-seeded College of St. Scholastica in the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Saturday night in Duluth.

St. Olaf (14-10-2) began its defense of its MIAC Playoffs title from a year ago with a 4-3 victory over fourth-seeded Concordia-Moorhead in the quarterfinals on Friday night to earn a date with St. Scholastica (16-6-2). Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Mars Lakeview Arena.

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 will be accepted. Tickets can be bought on-site only. Live video and live stats will be available.

Second-seeded Augsburg University hosts third-seeded Saint John's University in the other semifinal at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 in Minneapolis. The winners of the two semifinals will play for the conference title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 4 at the site of the highest remaining seed. As the lowest remaining seed, St. Olaf cannot host the championship game.

On Friday night, St. Olaf scored twice in the span of 1:10 near the midway point of the third period to break a 2-2 tie and went on to claim a 4-3 victory over Concordia-Moorhead. First year Kelijah McElroy and sophomore Troy Bowditch scored 1:10 apart to give the Oles a 4-2 lead and St. Olaf held on late despite the Cobbers getting within a goal with 3:34 to go.

The victory evened St. Olaf's all-time record in the MIAC Playoffs to 12-12, as the Oles have now won at least one playoff game in back-to-back seasons for the first time since doing so each season from 2004-07. St. Olaf is in the tournament for the 14th time in program history and is in the semifinals for the 12th time.

In its second season in the conference, St. Scholastica claimed its first MIAC regular-season title and the top seed in the MIAC Playoffs with a 13-1-2 mark during the regular season. The Saints were the No. 4 seed last season when all nine teams were in the field and fell to fifth-seeded Bethel University, 4-3, in overtime in the quarterfinals.

Sunday night's game will be the first postseason meeting between the Oles and the Saints. St. Scholastica owns a 17-13-3 lead in the all-time series between the two programs, including sweeping the two meetings during the regular season. On Jan. 20, a hat trick from Bowditch was not enough for St. Olaf in a 7-4 home loss. The next day, the Oles cut a 3-0 third-period deficit to one but could not complete the comeback in a 4-2 defeat in Duluth.