NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team claimed the fifth and final spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 5-1 victory over Gustavus Adolphus College on the final day of the regular season on Saturday evening at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

After missing out on a chance to lock up a playoff berth with a 4-0 loss in St. Peter the night before, St. Olaf (11-11-3, 7-7-2 MIAC) fell behind less than four minutes in before scoring the final five goals of the game to down Gustavus (11-12-2, 6-9-1 MIAC). After games earlier in the day on Saturday, the Oles knew at puck drop they only needed to extend the game to overtime to return to the MIAC Playoffs.

With the win, St. Olaf earned the No. 5 seed in next week's conference tournament and will visit fourth-seeded Saint Mary's University for a 7 p.m. puck drop in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 21. The playoff berth is the 15th for the Oles and the third in a row.

First year Joey Kennelly, junior Matthew Pointer, and junior Connor Kalthoff had a goal and an assist apiece in the win, while first year Tony Leahy picked up a pair of assists, First-year defensemen Camden Benson and Michael Webster also tallied goals for the Oles.

Looking for its fifth consecutive win to end its season, Gustavus struck first on a goal by Drew Holt just 3:11 in, but St. Olaf answered with two goals in the next 5:03 to make the Gusties' lead a short-lived advantage. Less than four minutes after Holt's opening goal, Webster scored on a one-timer through traffic shortly after the Oles failed to capitalize on a two-minute 5-on-3 to tie the game at 1-1.

A little more than a minute and a half later, Kalthoff continued his late-season run of offensive production with his sixth goal of the season to give the Oles the lead for good, firing the puck into the top shelf from the right circle. Before the first period ended, Kennelly bagged his fifth goal of the season to stretch the Oles' lead to 3-1 after one.

With his first-period goal and an assist on Kennelly's goal, Kalthoff raised his point total to six goals and 10 assists in the last 11 games. The junior blue-liner has recorded at least one point in nine of St. Olaf's last 11 games.

Pointer tallied the lone goal of the second period 4:34 in off assists from Kennelly and senior Noah Heisler. The Oles maintained their 4-1 lead until Benson fired the puck the entire length of the ice into an empty Gustavus net with 3:21 remaining with the Gusties in search of an improbable late comeback.

St. Olaf held a 40-25 advantage in shots on goal in the game, which saw the two teams combine to go 0-for-11 on the power play. Junior Thomas Lalonde stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to run his record to 7-2-2 on the season, while three Gustavus goaltenders combined for 35 saves.