Who wins? Monticello vs St. Cloud Cathedral - Section 5A Championship

[elliott70]

Who wins?

[ClassAGuy]

Section 5A Playoffs Championship Game (3/2/2022)

#4 seed Monticello (12-14-1) vs #3 seed St Cloud Cathedral (14-13-0) @ Furniture & Things Community Event Center, Elk River, MN
Another Section Final that not many saw coming. Most had pegged SCC as the favorite in the weaker lower bracket of 5A but I don’t think many people had Monticello. The Moose have had well issues this year rather it be the middle of the year horrid stretch of play where they went (3-7-0) from Dec 23rd to Jan 22nd including a loss to 6 win Sauk Rapids. Or the fact that they really struggle to generate offense; they have only scored more than 3 goals in 8 of their 27 games. Despite all of that here they are playing in their 6th 5A Championship in the last 7 years. Coach Eric Nelson knows how to prepare his team to win and they will have the best player on the ice in Senior Wilson Dahlheimer. Cathedral on the other hand has had some major flaws of its own outside of Section 5A play they are (5-10-0) to show they are still not up to their old standards yet but the move to 5A has been a blessing because they are (9-3-0) in 5A play and 2 of those losses where to the Flyers who were knocked off by the Moose. Cathedral beat Monticello 4-3 earlier this year but they led 4-1 late into the third. The Crusaders will lean on Seniors Nolan Widman and Collin Hess who are having good playoff numbers so far. Nick Hansen looks to be the better of the two goalies and this one looks like SCC is the favorite and will arrive a year early at state with a young team but don't count out the Moose who may have one more big upset left up their sleeve.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 5A Finals Notes & Tidbits
Crusader Curse
Monticello will have a mighty challenge on its hands when it faces off against St Cloud Cathedral for the 5A Title. Not only are they the heavy underdog at (12-14-1) on the year but add in this fun fact the Moose have NEVER beaten Cathedral in their programs history. Pretty crazy for two elite Class A teams that meet regularly during the year.

Central MN Private Power
Since 2012 Cathedral has been a dominant force in Central MN Hockey going to Section Finals in nine of the 10 years and playing in 5 State Tournaments in that stretch. They made last year's disastrous year all the more confusing but just a year later it appears the Crusaders are back on track to make the X and be a Force in 5A for the next few years.

[The Next One]

I’ll take monti. Much improved team and just beat a LF team that is quite a bit better than SCC.

[ClassAGuy]

I’ll take monti. Much improved team and just beat a LF team that is quite a bit better than SCC.

I had this on different thread but similar thought LF was not the same team by the end of the year that they were early on. I had LF on upset watch after watching them struggle with Sauk Rapids and I think they just got wore out on the year they only played 10 kids for 25 games never developed depth and you could tell they were wore out. The goals for the Moose were not pretty and 2 of the 4 were just lack of coverage effort because the Flyers looked tired.

SCC has NEVER lost to Monticello in their program history and they were easily beating the Moose 4-1 late when they met in late Jan on Monticello's Home Ice. The Moose got 2 PP goals near the end of the game to make the score appear closer the game really was. SCC was also missing their second leading scorer 9th grader Hirschfeld in that game.

I think it has potential to be a good one but Monticello really struggles producing offense they wont be gifted a few goals like they were in the Flyers game.

Gonna go with History and assume Crusaders roll as they have never lost to Monti in their history. Cathedral really benefitted from getting out of 6A and back over to 5A as they will struggle at State.

[Mite-dad]

I forgot Hirschfield was not playing the last time LF played them. In fact I saw him on the sidelines and chatted with him briefly. He's definitely a good player and will be a factor in the championship game. Might be the difference. But I still think the Moose have a shot. Especially if they keep the physical play they displayed against LF.

[ClassAGuy]

I forgot Hirschfield was not playing the last time LF played them. In fact I saw him on the sidelines and chatted with him briefly. He's definitely a good player and will be a factor in the championship game. Might be the difference. But I still think the Moose have a shot. Especially if they keep the physical play they displayed against LF.

Agreed there.

Like I said they played not too long ago and SCC handled the Moose it was 4-1 late and adding Hirschfeld back and the fact that the Moose have never beaten the Crusaders it might be in their head now.

I will take SCC by 2 or 3 empty goal late.

[ClassAGuy]

5A Final Prediction

Crusaders continue their dominance over the Moose and arrive a year earlier than expected at state.

[ClassAGuy]

5A Final Prediction

Crusaders continue their dominance over the Moose and arrive a year earlier than expected at state.

Yikes eat crow on this one. Crusaders given a PP with 2:00 to play and they blow that chance and end up giving up the game winning goal with around 10 seconds left on top of it. Didnt see that one coming. Monticello beats SCC for first time in school history and heads to the X while Cathedral will be back stronger next year but man did they blow a golden chance at the end will sting for awhile. Congrats Moose!!

[Mite-dad]

In watching both teams vs LF, I felt the Moose played the Flyers tougher than SCC in both games. Both games against LF were 1 goal affairs. The Moose played LF with more intensity and physicality than SCC did. I'm not surprised the Moose won. Good time to beat SCC for the first time! Good luck Moose at state! It gets much tougher from here!

[BobSaget]

I thought the game was as even as the score and shot totals indicate. in my opinion, Cathedral had a deeper team with a couple more scoring chances, but Monticello clearly had the best player on the ice in Dahlheimer. He had a bunch of chances in the third period and finally capitalized at the end to complete the hat trick and win the game.

Cathedral looks to be rebuilding nicely for the next couple years with all the numbers and talent they have in their freshman and sophomore classes. I don't think it'll be the same top-end talent they've recently had, but the chalk says they should make a state tourney or two in the near future.

Good luck to the Moose at state...one of seven teams I'll be rooting for in Class A

[ClassAGuy]

I thought the game was as even as the score and shot totals indicate. in my opinion, Cathedral had a deeper team with a couple more scoring chances, but Monticello clearly had the best player on the ice in Dahlheimer. He had a bunch of chances in the third period and finally capitalized at the end to complete the hat trick and win the game.

Cathedral looks to be rebuilding nicely for the next couple years with all the numbers and talent they have in their freshman and sophomore classes. I don't think it'll be the same top-end talent they've recently had, but the chalk says they should make a state tourney or two in the near future.

Good luck to the Moose at state...one of seven teams I'll be rooting for in Class A

Nice recap by BobSaget, RIP to the real Mr Saget, and good takes all around. I didn't pay attention to this one until right till the end spent my night watching MPLS vs. Delano. I was surprised by the result as I felt SCC was the better team when they played in the regular season and adding back their 2nd leading scorer 9th grader Hirschfeld would give them the edge and the fact that they have always beaten the Moose. However, give Monticello credit Coach Eric Nelson did a very nice job with a thin group and he brings his 4th team to state out of 5A in the last 6 years. Dahlheimer up front and Gavin Simon on the backend are very talented but they dont have much beyond that and he molded the group into buying into roles and playing a tough physical brand of hockey that was enough to sneak out of weak overall talent base in 5A. They deserve a ton of credit going on the road and beating the best team in the Section on their home ice and then getting the school's first ever win over the Private power in the area 2 very nice upsets. Congrats Moose! While they will likely get buried in the first game on Wednesday by Hermantown. Warroad or Mahtomedi they could come back in win one game for sure in the Consolation Bracket.

For Cathedral they will become they bona fide favorite for 5A over the next 3-4 years moving forward. They will return their goalie, 5 D and their 2nd and 4th leading scorers were just freshman. They will be a Top 10 team next year and will be a force for 5A to deal with for years to come.

Great hockey game overall and I feel for the Flyers as they were the BEST team in 5A but playoff hockey can be cruel and now Little Falls will look to reload as they wont be as good as they were this year but they still do return some nice parts 4 of their top 6 forwards are back along with 2 of the 4 D who played every minute. So they will be a factor as well. Cambridge will bring back their 3 leading scorers and their 9ht grade goalie. River Lakes brings back everyone so those 5 will look to be the 5 again next year in 5A.

But that is for a different day to come for now CONGRATS MOOSE and Good Luck at STATE!!