BLAINE, Minn. – First year Willy Johnson scored with 1:06 remaining in overtime to give the St. Olaf College men's hockey team a 4-3 victory over Bethel University in the teams' regular-season finale on Saturday evening at Bethel University Arena at the National Sports Center.

Johnson struck at 3:54 of overtime to cap a come-from-behind victory for St. Olaf (12-8-5, 8-6-2 MIAC), which trailed Bethel (13-11-1, 9-7-0 MIAC) 2-0 early in the second period and 3-2 after two periods. Both teams began the day having already secured spots in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs and the result set up another meeting between the two programs in the postseason.

With the win, the Oles will return to the National Sports Center to take on the Royals in the quarterfinal round at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The two programs have met in the MIAC Playoffs in Blaine in each of the last two seasons, with St. Olaf claiming a 3-1 semifinal win in 2025 and a 4-1 victory in the championship game in 2024.

With time winding down in the opening period, Joe Westlund scored with two seconds to go to give Bethel a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Royals added to their lead on a goal by Ethan Hull at 3:22 of the second to build a two-goal cushion.

First year Connor McNaughton got St. Olaf on the board with a power-play goal midway through the second before first year Hunter Hayes tied it up with another power-play goal four minutes later. Logan Anderson restored the Royals' lead at 17:24 of the second to give Bethel a 3-2 advantage heading to the third.

In the third, Hayes blasted home his second of the night at 4:39 for the goal that eventually sent the game to overtime. Bethel got a power play less than two minutes after Hayes' tying goal, but the Oles killed it off.

Sophomore Matthew Malin made three saves in the span of 38 seconds in overtime to keep St. Olaf in it before junior Tyler Green picked out Johnson with a centering pass that Johnson turned home for the winner late in the extra session. Bethel held a 39-34 advantage in shots on goal in the game as Malin made 36 saves for the Oles and Marco Duronio had 30 stops for the Royals.