NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The fifth-seeded St. Olaf College men's hockey team will take on second-seeded and No. 15-ranked Bethel University in the championship game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Saturday night at Bethel University Ice Arena at the National Sports Center.

In its second appearance in the title game in three seasons, St. Olaf (13-11-3) will meet Bethel (18-5-3) in a 7 p.m. puck drop at Rink 5 in Blaine on Saturday, March 2. The winner will receive the MIAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

Per MIAC policy, admission will be charged for the game. Ticket prices are $10 for general admission and $2 for students with ID. Children five and under will be admitted for free. MIAC passes will be accepted. Tickets will be sold at the venue on Saturday, beginning at 5 p.m. (no advanced or online sales) and fans are encouraged to be there early. Individuals may purchase up to five (5) general admission tickets at a time. Live video and live statistics will also be provided by Bethel.

St. Olaf advanced to the championship game with back-to-back road shutouts of fourth-seeded Saint Mary's and top-seeded Augsburg University last week. The two wins improved the Oles' all-time record in the MIAC Playoffs to 14-13-0 in their 15th appearance in the field (1988, 1991, 1992, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2022, 2023, 2024). St. Olaf is looking for its third MIAC Playoff title, previously winning the tournament as the No. 3 seed in 2006 and the No. 7 seed in 2022 (all teams qualified due to COVID-19 pandemic). The Oles will be just the second No. 5 seed to appear in the championship game since the change to the five-team format in 2002, joining Hamline University, which won the tournament in 2015.

Bethel is in the midst of its seventh appearance in the MIAC Playoffs (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2022, 2024) and improved to 7-6-2 all-time in the tournament with a 2-1 overtime victory over the third-seeded College of St. Scholastica in the semifinals last Saturday. The Royals' lone MIAC Playoff title came as the No. 1 seed in 2007 in a season that saw Bethel make a run to the national quarterfinals. The 2007 title was one of two appearances in the championship game for Bethel, which fell in a mini-game to Saint John's University in 2001 under the previous playoff format.

The Oles and Royals have only met once previously in the MIAC Playoffs. That meeting came in the semifinals in 2007 when top-seeded Bethel topped fourth-seeded St. Olaf by a 5-1 score. Saturday's game will be the fourth meeting between the two programs this season, and Bethel is undefeated (2-0-1) in the previous three. The Royals took four of a possible six points from the MIAC series on Nov. 3-4 with a 2-1 overtime win at home and a 1-1 tie (1-0 shootout win) on the road. The teams also met outdoors on Dec. 9 in St. Louis Park, with Bethel coming away with a 3-1 victory behind two third-period goals.