DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team scored the game's first four goals in a 4-1 series-opening road victory over the College of St. Scholastica on Friday evening at Mars Lakeview Arena.

St. Olaf (9-10-1, 6-6-1) scored once late in each of the first two periods and twice early in the third to build a 4-0 lead before St. Scholastica (4-16-0, 2-11-0 MIAC) got the game's final goal. The win was just the Oles' second in the five head-to-head meetings between the two teams in Duluth.

Senior Sophie McBane, junior Solvei Berg-Messerole, and junior Molly Terebayza had a goal and an assist apiece in the win, while senior Grace Lankas tallied assists on three of St. Olaf's four goals. First year Bella LaMere also scored in the win. Berg-Messerole's two-point night moved her into 10th place in program history with 70 points in 71 career games.

Junior Hannah Fritz stopped 37 of the 38 shots St. Scholastica got on frame to improve to 6-4-0 on the season. Fritz has yielded one goal or fewer in five of her last six starts. Makenzie Cole made 49 saves in the loss for the Saints, as the Oles racked up 53 shots on goal for the seventh-highest single-game total in program history.

St. Olaf got on the board first when McBane scored her sixth goal of the season at 16:41 of the opening period off assists from Terebayza and Lankas for the lone goal of the opening period. Berg-Messerole made it 2-0 inside the final three minutes of the second by firing a shot over the glove of Cole and in from the left circle, with Lankas picking up her second assist of the night.

Just 1:46 into the third, St. Olaf stretched its lead to 3-0 when Terebayza scored on a rebound after McBane flipped the puck to center ice to spring Berg-Messerole on a breakaway. Terebayza's goal was her third in the last two games and sixth of the season.

LaMere added another to the Oles' lead with a power-play goal at 5:19 of the third, tucking the puck into a gaping net after the puck trickled in front. Grace Chapman scored the Saints' lone goal exactly one minute later.

With the win and results elsewhere in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), St. Olaf is two points behind the College of Saint Benedict for the fifth and final playoff spot with five games remaining. The Oles are also just three points behind fourth-place Hamline University.

St. Olaf and St. Scholastica will finish off their series on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. at St. Olaf Ice Arena. The game will be the Oles' annual Sophie's Squad Game, as the team raises awareness for the importance of mental health. There will also be free admission for all fans at the game as part of a celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day.