St. Olaf Hockey Wins MIAC Playoffs, Advances To NCAA Tournament

NORTHFIELD, MN —The St. Olaf College men's hockey team learned Monday that it will go on the road to face St. Norbert College in the first round of the 12-team NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament on Saturday.

The Oles (11-14-3) will face the Green Knights (23-6-0) at 7 p.m. at the Cornerstone Community Center in De Pere, Wisconsin. The winner faces Augsburg (24-4-0) on March 19.

The NCAA semifinals and final will take place March 25-26 at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.

If St. Olaf wins its opening-round NCAA game, it will face a familiar foe in Augsburg.

The Oles upset the then-No. 4 Auggies 5-2 on Saturday in the championship game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs at Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis.

It was St. Olaf's first victory against a top-five team since 2014 and it ended Augsburg's 16-game home winning streak.

The win also completed an improbable run through the conference tournament for St. Olaf, which beat the conference's top three seeds on the road. With the title, the Oles earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, just the second NCAA appearance in program history.

St. Olaf beat Saint John's University 3-1 in the conference playoffs semifinal on March 2, and Concordia College 3-2 in the opening round on Feb. 26

"We are incredibly proud of our student-athletes. The players have invested so much since we started in October, and I'm so happy the group came together at the right time," St. Olaf coach Eddie Effinger said.

Effinger continued: "Although our roster is filled with underclassmen, our older players were able to keep the group focused on what was right in front of them. Regardless of wins or losses throughout the regular season, the team stayed committed to getting better each day."

In the MIAC championship game, St. Olaf first-year Jonathan Young led the way with two goals and an assist. First-years Sean Walsh and Parker Casey and sophomore Brendan Darby also found the net, while sophomore goaltender Lukas Haugen had 25 saves on 27 shots.

Casey's goal with 25 seconds remaining in the first period gave the Oles the momentum heading into the first intermission.

Young and Walsh scored second-period goals to stretch the Oles' lead to 3-0 after two periods.

Augsburg pulled a goal back on a power-play goal midway through the third period. But Darby's empty-net goal restored the three-goal advantage with about 3:30 left in the third period.

The Auggies scored in the final minute, but it was too little, too late.

St. Olaf outshot Augsburg 29-27 in the contest.

Now, the Oles head to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006, when they fell 2-1 to U-W Superior in the first round. That season, they defeated the University of St. Thomas 5-1 in the championship game of the MIAC Playoffs.

Tickets to Saturday's game are $10 and $8 and can be purchased through the St. Norbert Box Office over the phone at 920-403-3950.

Ticket prices are $10 for Sections C,D,E,F,G,H,I and J and $8 for Sections B, K, M and N. St. Olaf fans are encouraged to buy tickets in Sections C and D, the visiting sections, but are welcome to sit in any section. All seats are reserved.