St. Cloud Cathedral boys hockey defeats Warroad in OT in Class 1A semifinal

The Crusaders came back from two deficits to defeat the Warriors at the state tournament

ST. PAUL — The No. 3-seed St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (25-4-1) defeated the No. 2-seed Warroad Warriors (24-6-0) 4-3 in overtime in the Class 1A MSHSL boys hockey semifinals on Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

The Crusaders tied the game in the final minute with a 6-on-4 advantage, and they won minutes into overtime. 

"That was probably the craziest game I've ever been a part of," St. Cloud Cathedral coach Robbie Stocker said. "It was pretty fun."

The Warriors wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Twenty-six seconds into the game, Taven James drove to the net and scored for a 1-0 lead. 

Eight minutes later, Ryan Lund scored through the five-hole after St. Cloud Cathedral goaltender Nick Hansen failed to corral a rebound. 

Despite the 2-0 deficit, St. Cloud Cathedral put 12 shots on goal to the Warriors nine in the first period. 

"I thought we played just fine," Stocker said. "We still felt like we dictated play in the first period."

St. Cloud Cathedral had better luck in the second period. Griffin Sturm scored on the power play to cut the lead to 2-1. 

Four minutes later, Crusader Landon Swenson dove at a puck and centered it with a swing of his stick for Cole Hwang, who put it past Warroad goaltender Benjamin Norris. 

"He made a great play," Hwang said. "I just had time to pick it up. I didn't expect it."

Warroad started the third period with pressure on St. Cloud Cathedral, and any St. Cloud Cathedral momentum was stopped when Phillip O'Neal was called for a major penalty for boarding. 

"I was proud of how they came out and played in the third," Warroad coach Jay Hardwick said. "In the second, we weren't very good. We lost a lot of battles. We were standing around a lot. I thought out-competed us in the second period."

Warroad did not have the full 5-minute advantage because sophomore Broden Hontvet tripped a Crusader. 

But the Warriors scored when they returned to a 5-on-4 advantage. Ryan Shaugaby put the Warriors up by one after a no-goal was reviewed and called a goal. 

Warroad had this goal waved off, whistle blew. This is the best look, puck was clearly not frozen. Goal on review pic.twitter.com/w3nxMdfr15

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 8, 2024

But once again, a penalty impacted the period. Honvet was called for another penalty, and Hirschfeld scored off a deflection from a Warroad defender after he drove toward the goal line. Hirschfeld stayed strong on the puck while he carried it into the Warroad zone. 

"We do a lot of drills like that," Hirschfeld said. "Practice definitely paid off, and I scored it. ... We're always practicing things that are game-like."

In overtime, Hirschfeld scored again, this time after a rebound to send the Crusaders to the Class 1A championship game for the first time since they won it in 2019. 

"It's a super resilient group," Stocker said. "It's a group that's been here before, and a group that's put lots of time in. ... We've seen almost every scenario. It speaks to the group."

The Crusaders will play the winner of Hermantown vs. Mahtomedi in the Class 1A championship game on Saturday on 12 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center. 

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- Jack Butler | butler@scorebooklive.com | @Butler917