WINONA, Minn. – Fourth-seeded Saint Mary's University scored three times in the first half of the second period and went on to defeat the fifth-seeded St. Olaf College women's hockey team, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Wednesday evening at Saint Mary's Ice Arena.

St. Olaf (12-13-1) led 1-0 after one period on a goal by junior Solvei Berg-Messerole late in the period, but Saint Mary's (16-10-0) turned the game on its head in the second with three goals in the first 9:23 of the period. The Cardinals' first two goals came just 47 seconds apart, as the hosts held on in the third period despite the Oles getting a power-play goal from senior Sophie McBane midway through the period.

With the win, Saint Mary's earned a meeting with top-seeded and regular-season champion Augsburg University in the semifinals on Saturday evening in Minneapolis. The loss brought and end to St. Olaf's third season in a row with at least 10 victories and the careers of the program's 10 seniors, who helped the Oles win at least nine games in each of their seasons after back-to-back winless campaigns and the COVID year.

Berg-Messerole gave St. Olaf the lead at the first intermission by tallying the lone goal of the opening period at 14:33 with her 10th goal of the season, getting into double figures for the third time in as many seasons. After Berg-Messerole picked out junior Molly Terebayza with a cross-ice pass, Terebayza's shot was blocked and senior Sophie McBane steered the puck to Berg-Messerole, who slid it home from outside the crease.

Saint Mary's was credited with the game's first 10 shots on goal in the second period and scored on three of them to build a two-goal cushion. Teagan Phillips tied the game at 4:07 by steering in a rebound off a blocked shot to end first year Baylyn Shankman's shutout streak at 385:38, which is the longest to start a career in program history. Shankman stopped the first 162 shots on goal she faced over eight appearances before Phillips' goal.

Just 47 seconds later, Reese Heitzman got the puck over the line in the middle of a scrum in the crease to put the Cardinals on top. Taverie Sherner extended Saint Mary's lead to 3-1 less than five minutes later by tipping in a shot by Kenzie Meland from the right point. The Cardinals outshot the Oles by a 15-4 margin in the three-goal second period.

First year Gianna Kowalkoski and McBane both had chances in the first four minutes of the third period to draw St. Olaf within a goal, but the Oles eventually got within one on its second power play of the game. Berg-Messerole started the play by getting the puck back to first year Nora McConnell at the left point. McConnell threw the puck towards the net and the blocked shot fell to McBane to score at the back door for the senior's ninth goal of the season.

In the final minutes, St. Olaf was unable to find a chance to pull its goaltender for the extra skater, although junior Hannah Fritz kept the Oles in it by flying out of her crease to smother a chance with 1:15 remaining. Fritz stopped all eight shots she faced after coming on to replace Shankman after the third Saint Mary's goal. Celeste Rimstad had 11 of her 21 saves in the third period for the Cardinals.

The playoff appearance was the 11th in program history for St. Olaf and the third in the last four seasons.