ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team's push for a playoff spot will come down to the final day of the regular season after the Oles lost 4-0 to Gustavus Adolphus College to open their series on Friday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink.

St. Olaf (10-11-3, 6-7-2 MIAC) entered the weekend needing two points to lock up a spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs but came away with none from the series opener with the shutout loss to Gustavus (11-11-2, 6-8-1 MIAC). The shutout defeat marked the first time the Oles had been blanked in 88 games going back to a 2-0 home loss to Saint John's University on Feb. 1, 2020.

With the loss and results elsewhere in the conference, St. Olaf dipped to sixth place – one spot outside the playoff spots – with 20 points with one game remaining. The Oles are one point behind Saint John's, which has no games left, meaning an overtime or shootout win in the regular-season finale would lock up the fifth seed. St. Olaf could be seeded as high as fourth with a regulation win and a regulation win by Concordia-Moorhead over Saint Mary's University, which holds the tiebreaker over the Oles.

Gustavus got the only goal it would need on the night on a power-play goal by Hunter Newhouse at 16:03 of the opening period as Newhouse sent a wrist shot from the slot through a screen on the Gusties' third power play of the opening period. Despite spending 5:37 shorthanded in the period, St. Olaf held a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal in the first 20 minutes.

The hosts doubled their lead at 15:05 of the second period on a goal by Mason Hendrickson and added two goals in the final 5:23 of the third, including one empty-netter with 1:41 to go, to cap the four-goal win. St. Olaf outshot Gustavus by a 24-15 margin in the game, but Jackson Hjelle stopped all 24 shots to record his third shutout of the season for the Gusties.

The Oles return to St. Olaf Ice Arena for the series finale on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 5 p.m.