MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team led No. 2/4-ranked Augsburg University for nearly 15 minutes before falling by a 3-1 margin in the teams' series opener on Friday night at Ed Saugestad Rink.

Junior Julia Larson gave St. Olaf (9-9-0, 6-5-0 MIAC) the lead inside the first four minutes of the second period and the Oles maintained that lead until Augsburg (14-3-1, 8-2-1 MIAC) scored with 1:26 left in the second. The Auggies got the game-winning goal early in the third and added a power-play goal with a little over five minutes remaining.

Augsburg was ranked No. 2 in this week's D-III Hockey News Women's Poll and No. 4 in this week's USCHO Division III Women's Poll. The Oles have now played six games against top-10 teams this season and are 1-5-0 in those contests. Despite the loss, St. Olaf remained in the fifth and final playoff spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings with a four-point cushion ahead of Concordia-Moorhead.

Larson opened the scoring for the Oles at 3:39 of the second period by scoring after a scrum near the top of the crease for her second goal of the season. Sophomores Jocelyn Orr and Avery Shaw were credited with assists on the goal.

Augsburg knotted the score at 1-1 at the second intermission on a goal by Ella Olson at the 18:34 mark and took the lead at 3:21 of the third when Tenley Stewart redirected a shot by Kelsi Ries for the eventual game-winning goal. Nora Stepan gave the Auggies an insurance goal on the power play at 14:49.

Sophomore Baylyn Shankman fell to 7-5-0 on the season after making 24 saves in the loss for St. Olaf. Kayla Simonson totaled 18 saves in the win for Augsburg. The Auggies were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Oles were 0-for-3.

St. Olaf will try and get a split in a 4 p.m. start on Saturday, Jan. 31 at St. Olaf Ice Arena.