Section 5A Final (2/28/24)- #1 St Cloud Cathedral vs #2 Monticello
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
Section 5A Final (2/28/24)- #1 St Cloud Cathedral vs #2 Monticello
SCC has been the dominate team in 5A all year and they beat Monti 3-0 a week ago. Can the Moose change the course or is SCC destined to get back to state.
Re: Section 5A Final (2/28/24)- #1 St Cloud Cathedral vs #2 Monticello
#1 seed St Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (22-4-1)
St Cloud Cathedral enters the 5A Section Final having steamrolled through two 5A opponents outscoring them 16-1 so far and they have won 14 of their last 15 games. The Crusaders are looking to return to state for the 6th time in the last 9 years. They have depth and experience and have been the heavy favorite in 5A all year having not lost a game to a section opponent and that includes beating Monticello in the last game of the regular season 3-0 and they come in playing their best hockey of the season.
Crusaders Leaders- Senior #26 Andrew Dwinnell (25-41-66 pts) and Juniors #6 John Hirschfeld (24-49-73 pts) & #24 Joey Gillespie (28-31-59 pts) make up one of the most dynamic 1st lines in the state and seem to play their best in the biggest games and they have been great all year. Senior #3 Vince Gebhardt (2-13-15 pts) & Sophomore #21 Griffin Sturm (8-15-23 pts) led the blueline with a nice mix of physicality and playmaking for a deep SCC team.
Crusaders Goalie- Senior #31 Nick Hansen (15-0-1) 1.47 GAA .934 SV% has been their excellent year and once he returned from injury Cathedral took their game to another level. SCC has yet to be beaten when Hansen is in net, making beating them even a bigger uphill climb for teams.
Crusaders Secondary Scoring- One of the big keys to the red hot 2nd half for SCC beyond getting fully healthy has been the emergence of secondary scoring as they have been able to start to get scoring from all three lines. The 2nd half emergence of Seniors #19 Cole Hawg (12-15-27 pts), #17 Landon Swenson (6-9-15 pts) & #14 Philip O’Neal (4-7-11 pts) along with Junior #13 Jaeger Wood (10-6-16 pts) have been key as they now get scoring up and down the lineup card making them even more lethal when teams try to commit to shutting down their high powered top line.
Crusaders Special Teams- The Power Play is at 19.7% and Penalty Kill is at 84.9 %
#2 seed Monticello Moose (21-5-1)
Monticello enters the 5A Section Final for the 7th time in the last 9 years. The Moose had a tremendous regular season and they won over 20 games and were able to win a drama-filled 5A Semifinal over Little Falls in triple overtime to get back to the section championship this year. Now they have a very tough Crusaders opponent as the roadblock to their 5th trip to state in the last 8 years. They did lose to SCC during the year but they hope to reverse that result in this game and shock many with a big time upset in this one.
Moose Leaders- Seniors #5 Roman Thompson (31-25-56 pts) & #24 Gunnar Simon (16-38-54 pts) and Junior #3 Landen Scherber (23-33-56 pts) put up massive numbers as the Monti’s top line during the year but they have been very quiet in the playoffs so far. Defensively, Senior #17 Brodie Mich (5-16 21 pts), Junior #8 Aidan Widmark (3-9-12 pts) & 9th grader Nicklas Nelson (5-18-23 pts) have led the way on the Moose blueline all year.
Moose Goalie- Senior #30 Owen Soderholm (20-5-1) 2.14 GAA .901 SV% has had an outstanding career in net for Monticello and he has been dialed in so far in the playoffs and he will need to be at his best vs SCC and the Moose is gonna need a big game from him which he is fully capable of.
Moose Playoff Success- Since moving back into Class A in 2016 Monticello has been the most dominant program within Section 5A. They have played in the 5A Final now in 7 of the last 9 years. Add to that playoff success, while they have never beaten Cathedral in the regular season going (0-10-1) vs them over the years, they have been very good vs them in the Playoffs going (2-1) against the Crusaders including the an upset over them 2 years ago in the 2022 5A Section Final to give the Moose hope that they can pull the shocker here again in this growing rivalry.
Moose Special Teams- The Power Play is at 22.9% and Penalty Kill is at 79.3 %
St Cloud Cathedral enters the 5A Section Final having steamrolled through two 5A opponents outscoring them 16-1 so far and they have won 14 of their last 15 games. The Crusaders are looking to return to state for the 6th time in the last 9 years. They have depth and experience and have been the heavy favorite in 5A all year having not lost a game to a section opponent and that includes beating Monticello in the last game of the regular season 3-0 and they come in playing their best hockey of the season.
Crusaders Leaders- Senior #26 Andrew Dwinnell (25-41-66 pts) and Juniors #6 John Hirschfeld (24-49-73 pts) & #24 Joey Gillespie (28-31-59 pts) make up one of the most dynamic 1st lines in the state and seem to play their best in the biggest games and they have been great all year. Senior #3 Vince Gebhardt (2-13-15 pts) & Sophomore #21 Griffin Sturm (8-15-23 pts) led the blueline with a nice mix of physicality and playmaking for a deep SCC team.
Crusaders Goalie- Senior #31 Nick Hansen (15-0-1) 1.47 GAA .934 SV% has been their excellent year and once he returned from injury Cathedral took their game to another level. SCC has yet to be beaten when Hansen is in net, making beating them even a bigger uphill climb for teams.
Crusaders Secondary Scoring- One of the big keys to the red hot 2nd half for SCC beyond getting fully healthy has been the emergence of secondary scoring as they have been able to start to get scoring from all three lines. The 2nd half emergence of Seniors #19 Cole Hawg (12-15-27 pts), #17 Landon Swenson (6-9-15 pts) & #14 Philip O’Neal (4-7-11 pts) along with Junior #13 Jaeger Wood (10-6-16 pts) have been key as they now get scoring up and down the lineup card making them even more lethal when teams try to commit to shutting down their high powered top line.
Crusaders Special Teams- The Power Play is at 19.7% and Penalty Kill is at 84.9 %
#2 seed Monticello Moose (21-5-1)
Monticello enters the 5A Section Final for the 7th time in the last 9 years. The Moose had a tremendous regular season and they won over 20 games and were able to win a drama-filled 5A Semifinal over Little Falls in triple overtime to get back to the section championship this year. Now they have a very tough Crusaders opponent as the roadblock to their 5th trip to state in the last 8 years. They did lose to SCC during the year but they hope to reverse that result in this game and shock many with a big time upset in this one.
Moose Leaders- Seniors #5 Roman Thompson (31-25-56 pts) & #24 Gunnar Simon (16-38-54 pts) and Junior #3 Landen Scherber (23-33-56 pts) put up massive numbers as the Monti’s top line during the year but they have been very quiet in the playoffs so far. Defensively, Senior #17 Brodie Mich (5-16 21 pts), Junior #8 Aidan Widmark (3-9-12 pts) & 9th grader Nicklas Nelson (5-18-23 pts) have led the way on the Moose blueline all year.
Moose Goalie- Senior #30 Owen Soderholm (20-5-1) 2.14 GAA .901 SV% has had an outstanding career in net for Monticello and he has been dialed in so far in the playoffs and he will need to be at his best vs SCC and the Moose is gonna need a big game from him which he is fully capable of.
Moose Playoff Success- Since moving back into Class A in 2016 Monticello has been the most dominant program within Section 5A. They have played in the 5A Final now in 7 of the last 9 years. Add to that playoff success, while they have never beaten Cathedral in the regular season going (0-10-1) vs them over the years, they have been very good vs them in the Playoffs going (2-1) against the Crusaders including the an upset over them 2 years ago in the 2022 5A Section Final to give the Moose hope that they can pull the shocker here again in this growing rivalry.
Moose Special Teams- The Power Play is at 22.9% and Penalty Kill is at 79.3 %
Re: Section 5A Final (2/28/24)- #1 St Cloud Cathedral vs #2 Monticello
SCC goes up 1-0 1st Period
Re: Section 5A Final (2/28/24)- #1 St Cloud Cathedral vs #2 Monticello
SCC now leads 3-0
Re: Section 5A Final (2/28/24)- #1 St Cloud Cathedral vs #2 Monticello
Monticello makes it 1-3 3rd period
Re: Section 5A Final (2/28/24)- #1 St Cloud Cathedral vs #2 Monticello
BHS 5A Championship Final
#1 SCC 4
#2 Monticello 1
Final
St Cloud Cathedral uses a big three goal first period to get past Monticello. The Crusaders now head back to State for the 6th time in the last 10 years.
#1 SCC 4
#2 Monticello 1
Final
St Cloud Cathedral uses a big three goal first period to get past Monticello. The Crusaders now head back to State for the 6th time in the last 10 years.