DULUTH, Minn. – The fifth-seeded St. Olaf College men's hockey team twice cut two-goal deficits to one but came up a goal short in a 3-2 loss to the top-seeded College of St. Scholastica in the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Sunday night at Mars Lakeview Arena.

In the first-ever postseason meeting between the two programs, St. Scholastica (17-6-3) scored goals less than two minutes apart in the opening nine minutes of the game to get out to an early two-goal cushion. St. Olaf (14-11-2) got goals from sophomores Connor Kalthoff and Tyler Cooper in the second period to get within a goal twice but could not manage a tying goal in the final period.

With the victory, the top-seeded Saints advanced to the championship game of the MIAC Playoffs for the first time in just their second season in the conference. St. Scholastica will host second-seeded Augsburg University for the title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 4 at 7 p.m.

St. Olaf saw its season come to an end with a 14-11-2 record, with the 14 victories marking the program's highest total since going 16-7-3 in 2008-09. The Oles also finished above .500 for the first time since 2013-14 while advancing to the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs for the 12th time in 14 appearances in the field.

Twin brothers Arkhip and Filimon Ledenkov – who both ranked in the top five nationally in points per game this season – scored 1:57 apart in the opening nine minutes to give St. Scholastica a quick 2-0 lead. Filimon Ledenkov opened the scoring on the Saints' second power play of the opening minutes at 6:47 before Arkhip Ledenkov added a goal at the 8:44 mark to put the hosts up 2-0 after 20 minutes.

Kalthoff got the Oles on the board at 10:47 of the second period with his sixth goal of the season, sneaking in from the right point to score from in close off assists from junior Brendam Darby and first year Jonathan Panisa. St. Scholastica wasted little time pushing its lead back to two goals, however, as Bryce Johnson scored 3:10 later to restore the two-goal advantage.

Cooper brought St. Olaf back within a goal less than four minutes after Johnson's tally, scoring his team-leading 13th goal of the season off assists from Panisa and fellow first year Gunnar Johnson at 17:42 of the second period to make it a 3-2 game. Down 3-2 after two, the Oles nearly tied the game in the opening seconds of the third period, but St. Scholastica goaltender Jack Bostedt denied first year Kelijah McElroy on a breakaway to keep the Saints on top.

St. Olaf had an opportunity on the power play seven minutes into the final period but generated just one shot on goal on the man advantage. After killing off a penalty later in the period, the Oles pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker with 1:53 remaining and got a couple of good looks at the goal in the final minute. Bostedt made a glove save to thwart a Panisa shot from the left circle with 40 seconds left before making a save on sophomore Sean Walsh with 22 seconds remaining to help the Saints hold on.

The hosts held a slender 25-23 advantage in shots on goal in the game. Bostedt collected the victory with a 21-save evening, while sophomore Thomas Lalonde took the loss despite making 22 stops.

The loss brought an end to the careers of seniors Raymond Fleming, Evan Shoemaker, Ashton Altmann, and Sean Salz. The quartet helped the Oles to 25 victories over their final two seasons and were part of last season's team that won the MIAC Playoffs and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history.