NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team was shut out for just the second time all season in a 3-0 loss to Augsburg University on Friday night at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

Augsburg (6-11-3, 3-6-2), which entered the night in second-to-last place in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings, claimed its first victory all season against a team ranked in the top 50 of the NCAA Power Index (NPI) by blanking St. Olaf (8-5-5, 4-3-2 MIAC) in the teams' series opener. With the loss, the Oles remained in a tie for the fifth and final playoff spot, while the Auggies joined the playoff race with the win, sitting just three points behind St. Olaf.

The loss was the first time the Oles had been shut out since a 3-0 loss at No. 5-ranked St. Norbert College in their season opener on Friday, Oct. 31. The defeat also dropped St. Olaf to 1-3-1 in its last five games after a 7-2-4 start.

Nick Catalano gave Augsburg the only goal it would need by scoring 20 seconds into a 4-on-4 at the 17:07 mark of the second period. The Auggies added two empty-net goals in the final 1:27 to account for the 3-0 final.

First year Ryan Nolan stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced for St. Olaf while falling to 5-4-1 on the season. Alex Timmons moved to 4-5-2 on the season for Augsburg with a 25-save shutout. Both teams were 0-for-3 on the power play in the game.

The Oles will look to salvage a split in the series finale at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31 at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis.