NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The No. 14-ranked St. Olaf College men's hockey team saw its five-game unbeaten streak come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Saint John's University in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series opener on Friday night at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

Carter Krenke and Jackson Bisson scored in the first nine minutes of the first two periods to help Saint John's (3-1-2, 2-0-1 MIAC) to a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Adam Johnson cut the deficit in half for St. Olaf (4-2-1, 2-1-0 MIAC) less than two minutes after Bisson's goal, but the Johnnies held on to snap the Oles' five-game streak without a loss (4-0-1).

St. Olaf was ranked No. 14 in this week's DIIIHockeyNews national poll and received votes in the USCHO national poll. The Oles' 4-1-1 start was the program's best six-game opening to a season since 1992-93.

Krenke opened the scoring for Saint John's at 8:46 of the first period by tapping the puck in off a feed from Cam Boche from the left corner after first year goaltender Ryan Nolan's clearing attempt from outside the crease caromed off Boche's facemask. The Johnnies doubled their lead at 8:48 of the second when Bisson put home a rebound off a shot by Chris Kernan to make it 2-0.

Just 1:41 after Bisson's goal, Johnson struck on the power play to get the Oles within a goal with his third goal of the season. Sophomore Nicholas Sewecke got the puck into the slot to junior Tony Leahy, whose shot led to a scrum at the top of the crease that resulted in Johnson poking the puck home.

Saint John's held off St. Olaf the rest of the way, including killing off a minor penalty inside the final six minutes of the third period. The Oles pulled Nolan for the extra skater with 2:14 remaining but could not find a way past Jon Howe, who had 44 saves for the Johnnies on the night. Nolan finished with 27 stops for St. Olaf.

Game two of the series will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.