NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team dropped the opener of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) series to No. 6/6 Hamline University by a 5-2 score on Friday night at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

In its fourth game this season against a nationally-ranked team, St. Olaf (7-7-0, 4-3-0 MIAC) got goals from junior Julia Larson and sophomore Bryn Etzell, but it was not enough against a Hamline (12-2-0, 6-1-0 MIAC) that entered the weekend ranked third in the country in scoring offense (4.31). The Pipers were ranked No. 6 in both the USCHO and D-III Hockey News national polls this week.

Hamline took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on goals from Annabel Mehta and Grace Delmonico 3:30 apart in the opening period. Larson halved St. Olaf's deficit with her first goal of the season at 2:43 of the second, scoring off assists from junior Andi Huselid and sophomore Bella LaMere. The Pipers got the goal back five minutes later when Mehta set up a goal by Macy Peterson to give Hamline a 3-1 lead.

The visitors extended their lead to 4-1 on a shorthanded goal by Brooke Klemz midway through the second period, but the Oles scored 24 seconds later on the same power play to make it a two-goal game. Huselid and senior Emma Heath earned assists on Etzell's power-play goal as the teams went into the second intermission in a 4-2 game.

The only goal of the third period was an empty-netter by Ashlyn Abrahamson with 20 seconds remaining with St. Olaf in search of a goal to get back in the game. Sophomore Baylyn Shankman made a career-high 42 saves in the loss for the Oles, while Kendra Nordick had 14 stops for the Pipers.

The series finale is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17 at TRIA Rink in St. Paul.