NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Despite owning a more than two-to-one advantage in shots on goal, the St. Olaf College women's hockey team dropped its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series opener to the College of St. Scholastica by a 2-1 score on Friday evening at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

St. Olaf (6-10-0, 0-9-0 MIAC) ousthot St. Scholastica (6-9-1, 5-3-1 MIAC) by a 42-19 margin throughout the game, but a third-period power-play goal was the difference for the visitors. Allie Bussey broke a 1-1 tie with just the Saints' fifth power-play goal of the season at 13:51 of the third period to give St. Scholastica the victory.

The Oles peppered Makenzie Cole with 10 shots on goal in the first 10-plus minutes of the game, but the St. Scholastica netminder stood tall to keep the game scoreless. Later in the period, Abby Pohlkamp gave the Saints a fortuitous lead when a shot by Taylor Leonard that was heading well wide of the game caromed in off Pohlkamp for the lone goal of the period.

St. Olaf outshot St. Scholastica by a 15-2 margin in the second period but again could not find a way past Cole, who made 41 saves in the game. The Oles generated seven shots on goal on a power play midway through the period but were 0-for-4 on the power play in the game.

In the third, St. Olaf finally found a way past Cole on first year Julia Larson's seventh goal in the last seven games. Larson was on hand to thrust in a rebound off her own shot at the 4:58 mark after Cole produced back-to-back saves on Larson and sophomore Solvei-Berg Messerole in quick succession. Berg-Messerole's assist extended the sophomore's point streak to five games.

Midway through the third period, St. Olaf earned 1:19 of 5-on-3 time but saw the two-skater advantage cut shot after just 17 seconds after committing a minor penalty of its own. After those three penalties expired, a second consecutive interference penalty on the Oles gave the Saints what proved to be the decisive power play. Just over 30 seconds into the power play, Bussey scored on a shot through a screen from the right circle to improve St. Scholastica's power play to just 5-for-47 on the season.

Cole and the Saints made Bussey's goal stand up as the game-winner the rest of the way. Sophomore Carley Tuman had 17 saves in the loss for St. Olaf.

Puck drop for the series finale is set for 6 p.m. at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth on Saturday, Jan. 20.