DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's hockey team moved up into a tie for third in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings with a 5-2 series-opening road win over the College of St. Scholastica on Friday evening at Mars Lakeview Arena.

After beginning the night in fifth place, St. Olaf (10-5-5, 6-3-2 MIAC) jumped up to fifth as junior Tyler Green and first year Hunter Hayes both scored twice in the win over last-place St. Scholastica (4-17-1, 1-11-1 MIAC), which suffered its 10th consecutive loss. The victory vaulted the Oles into a tie with Saint John's University for third place, one point ahead of Bethel University.

In addition to the two-goal performances from Green and Hayes, first year Connor Jensen recorded a season-high three assists, while junior Bjorn Lervick added a goal. A total of 11 Oles had at least one point in the victory as St. Olaf improved to 6-2-4 on the road this season.

Green got the scoring started in St. Olaf's three-goal first period at the 9:14 mark by putting home a rebound to start a stretch where the teams combined for three goals in 1:34. A little over a minute later, Lervick scored from low in the right circle off a rebound on a shot by sophomore Panayioti Efraimidis to make it 2-0.

St. Scholastica halved its deficit just 17 seconds after Efraimidis' goal, but St. Olaf restored its two-goal lead before the first intermission when Hayes tipped in a shot by junior Camden Benson. Early in the second, Hayes collected a feed from senior Jonathan Panisa from behind the net and scored his second of the night to stretch the Oles' lead to 4-1.

In the final minute of the second, the Saints got a power-play goal from Gavin Gunderson to go into the second intermission down by two. Neither team was able to find a goal in the third period until Green beat the horn for a power-play goal as time expired.

The Oles will seek a sweep in the series finale, which is set for 5 p.m. at St. Olaf Ice Arena on Saturday, Feb. 7.