NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team suffered a 1-0 loss to the College of St. Scholastica in the teams' series opener on Friday evening at St. Olaf Ice Arena.

St. Scholastica (8-11-1, 3-9-1 MIAC), which entered the game in last place in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings, got a power-play goal from Greta Culshaw-Klein in the opening nine minutes and held on to top St. Olaf (9-11-0, 6-7-0 MIAC). The Oles, who have played 15 one-goal games out of their 20 games this season, began the night in the fifth and final playoff spot but with just a one- and two-point cushion ahead of Concordia-Moorhead and Saint Mary's University.

After surviving an early St. Olaf power play that included six shots on goal, the Saints got the only goal of the night from Culshaw-Klein on a shot from the left point into the top-right corner of the net. Before the St. Scholastica goal, the Oles thought they had opened the scoring in a scrum in the crease, but no goal was given with St. Scholastica netminder Makenzie Cole sprawled with the lower half of her body in the net.

Sophomore Bryn Etzell was inches away from tying the game for St. Olaf with a little over six minutes remaining in the second period, but Etzell's shot from the right hit squarely off the left post and stayed out. The Oles had three power plays in the second period, one of which that carried over into the third, but came up empty. St. Olaf had 17 of its 31 shots on goal on its four power plays.

Early in the third, the Oles were again inches away from a tying goal, but sophomore Gianna Kowalkoski's shot rang off the right post after Kowalkoski circled behind the net from left to right and let fire from between the circles. St. Olaf got senior Hannah Fritz off the ice for the final 1:12 but was unable to generate a shot on goal.

Fritz took the hard-luck loss despite saving 18 of the 19 shots she faced, including one on Victoria Nelson in a 1-on-1 with the Saints shorthanded in the final seconds of the second period after a giveaway in the Oles' defensive zone. Cole stopped all 31 shots she faced for the visitors, with 26 of the 31 saves coming over the first two periods.

St. Olaf will try and salvage a split in the 4 p.m. series finale on Saturday, Feb. 7 at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth.