BLAINE, Minn. – The third-seeded St. Olaf College men's hockey team scored three third-period goals to top second-seeded Bethel University by a 3-1 score and return to the championship game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Saturday evening at a sold-out Bethel University Arena at the National Sports Center.

First year Nicholas Sewecke, senior Ben Luscko, and junior Jonathan Panisa scored in the span of less than 10 minutes in the third period for St. Olaf (14-9-3), which knocked off Bethel (13-10-3) in a rematch of last season's MIAC Playoff title game. The win made the Oles 8-1 in MIAC Playoff games – all on the road – in the last four seasons and sent St. Olaf, which has won the tournament in two of the last three seasons, to the title game for the fifth time (2006, 2012, 2022, 2024, 2025). The meeting between the Oles and Royals was the eighth between the two teams in the last two seasons and the third in the last eight day.

With the victory, St. Olaf will travel to top-seeded and regular-season champion Gustavus Adolphus College for the championship game on Saturday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The Gusties ousted Concordia-Moorhead by a 6-2 score in the other semifinal on Saturday.

Bethel took advantage of its lone power play in the game with a goal by Tyler Braccini at the 8:38 mark of the first period, as Braccini scored with a wrist shot from the right circle through a screen for his conference-leading 19th goal of the season. St. Olaf had two power plays later in the period but could not convert.

The Royals outshot the Oles by a 13-5 margin in the second period, but first year Matthew Malin stopped all 13 after coming on due to injury to start the period. Malin saved all 20 shots on goal Bethel generated over the final two periods to pick up his first win since Jan. 4 in his first appearance between the pipes in over a month.

In the third, Sewecke got St. Olaf on the board at the 4:59 mark by tapping the puck in off a cross-ice pass from senior Jonathan Young for Sewecke's ninth goal of the season. The goal marked Sewecke's third consecutive game with a point against the Royals.

Luscko and Panisa tallied unassisted goals 57 seconds apart past the midway point of the third period for the go-ahead and insurance goals. Luscko picked up a loose puck near the slot and fired it in for his second of the season at 12:38 before Panisa tricked a shot through the Bethel goaltender on a breakaway less than one minute later. Panisa's goal was his 16th of the season and his ninth in the last seven games.

Bethel held a 30-25 edge in shots on goal in the game, with seven of St. Olaf's 25 shots on goal coming on its two first-period power plays. Austin Ryman had 13 of his 22 saves in the first period for the Royals, while senior Thomas Lalonde and Malin combined for 29 saves for the Oles.