Derek Sutliffe scored with 10 seconds to play in the third period Wednesday night to give himself a hat trick and secure St. Scholastica's passage to the next round of the NCHA Harris Cup playoffs.
Sutliffe, a season forward from Las Vegas, netted his ninth, 10th and 11th goals of the season in the Saints' 3-1 victory over Northland College in an NCHA first-round game at Mars Lakeview Arena.
Zane Steeves, the backup goaltender for much of the season, started and made 36 saves for CSS (13-12-1), which will play at North Division champion St. Norbert College in a single-game elimination in Saturday's semifinals.
Sutliffe opened the scoring on a power play at 16:39 of the first period, but the Lumberjacks' Michael Berens equalized at 19:07 with his 12th goal of the season.
Sutliffe notched the game-winner 4:48 into the third period and tacked on an insurance goal into an empty net.
ADVERTISEMENT
A.J. Smith stopped 25 shots for Northland (11-13-2).