NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team returned from more than a month off with a 4-3 non-conference victory over Lake Forest College on Senior Night on Friday evening at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

In the first meeting between the two programs since Dec. 1, 2019, St. Olaf (5-4-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first period before Lake Forest (4-6-1) fought back to tie the game at 2-2 in the final minute of the second. The Oles, who had not played a game in 34 days, broke the tie with third-period goals from seniors Matthew Pointer and Connor Kalthoff before the Foresters tallied an extra-attacker goal in the final 15 seconds.

Prior to the game, St. Olaf honored its nine-member senior class of Ben Luscko, Sean Walsh, Jonathan Young, Eric Brown, Matthew Pointer, Connor Kalthoff, Cody Sherman, Tyler Cooper, and Thomas Lalonde on the ice. The class has been part two of the program's three Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoff championships and NCAA Tournament appearances.

First year Nicholas Sewecke and sophomore Joey Kennelly added goals for St. Olaf, with Sewecke also picking up an assist for his first collegiate multi-point game. Junior Gunnar Johnson also registered his first multi-point performance as an Ole with a pair of assists.

St. Olaf got on the board just 4:09 in when Sewecke redirected a shot by Johnson from the left point for his second goal in four collegiate games. Kennelly doubled the Oles' lead at the 10:15 mark of the first with a wrist shot from the slot off assists from Sewecke and sophomore Camden Benson. The goal was Kennelly's third in his last four games.

Lake Forest, which had not played in 33 days itself since winning the Skidmore Thanksgiving Invitational on Dec. 1, halved its deficit in the final three minutes of the first period through Trevor Faucher and got the only goal of the second in the final minute to knot the score at 2-2 after 40 minutes.

Pointer netted his first goal of the season on the power play at 2:47 of the third period to break the tie, flipping the puck in from close range after a scramble after Bobby McCloskey made a sprawling save sliding across his goal line with the goal open. Kalthoff gave the Oles an insurance goal with his second of the year at 17:39 of the third, firing home a one-timer from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from sophomore Tony Leahy.

Down by two with a little more than a minute remaining, the Foresters pulled McCloskey and, a minute later, were rewarded with an extra-attacker goal by Justin Ross with 12.6 seconds to go to make it a one-goal game. After a Lake Forest timeout, St. Olaf won the faceoff and got the puck behind the visitors' goal, but the Foresters got the puck up ice and got a last-second shot from Philip Quetell that drew a pad save from junior Tyler Laureault, as time expired with the rebound there for the taking.

St. Olaf owned a slender 27-24 advantage in shots on goal in the game. Laureault earned his first win of the season with a 21-save evening, while McCloskey took the loss with a 23-save night.

The Oles will be back home on Saturday, Jan. 4 for a 5 p.m. non-conference contest against first-time foe Skidmore College.