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#3 Seed (5A) St Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (23-4-1)
St Cloud Cathedral enters the state tournament for the 6th time in the last 10 years for their 12th appearance overall. The Crusaders were expected to have a big year as they returned almost everyone from their Tourney team a year ago and this team did not disappoint as they worked their way through the sectional to return to St. Paul this week. Cathedral is playing its best hockey of the year now as they have won 15 of their 16 games. The Crusaders have yet to be beaten by anyone this year when they have their full lineup which is the case as they enter the Tourney. They will now set their sights on winning their programs 2nd ever state title this week.

Crusaders Leaders- Senior #26 Andrew Dwinnell (26-41-67 pts) and Juniors #6 John Hirschfeld (24-51-75 pts) & #24 Joey Gillespie (29-31-60 pts) make up a very dynamic and explosive 1st line 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 (6-16-25 pts) led the blueline with a nice mix of physicality and playmaking for a deep SCC team.

Crusaders Goalie- Senior #31 Nick Hansen (16-0-1) 1.44 GAA .935 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 a good bet to win the Title this week.

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 (10-7-17 pts) have been key as they now get scoring from all three lines on 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% and Penalty Kill is at 85.3 %

(1A) Northfield Raiders (22-4-2)
Northfield enters the state tournament for the 2nd straight year and 3rd time overall. The Raiders have been the dominant program all year in Southern Minnesota as they were able to win the Big Nine Conference and go unbeaten within Section 1A play which they capped off with winning the Section title where they outscored teams 21-4 through their section playoff run to return back to St Paul this week. Now they will look to take things a step further and do the same thing they did the last time they faced the 3 seed in the Quarterfinal round, back in 2017, and that's pulling the upset as they pursue their programs 1st ever state title this week.

Raiders Leaders- Seniors #11 Jake Geiger (26-38-64 pts), #20 Cayden Monson (21-36-57 pts) & #12 Kam Kaiser (36-24-60 pts) give Northfield a big offensive trio as they have accounted for nearly 60% of the team’s goals this year. The Raiders also have a good blueline led by Senior #7 Ty Frank (0-19-19 pts) who missed half the year due to injury and in his absence youngsters Freshman #2 Ben Geiger (2-21-23 pts) & Sophomore #4 Bridger Riley (1-18-19 pts) grew up fast.

Raiders Goalie-Junior #1 Max Frank (14-3-1) 1.58 GAA .921 SV% split the net most of the season but down the stretch he won the starting role and has been their main guy in net and he has played very well so far in the playoffs and they will need a big game from him vs the high flying Crusaders 1st line.

Raiders High Scoring Offense- The Raiders have put up some impressive goal scoring numbers down south this year averaging over 5 goals a game and they are (22-0-1) when scoring 4 goals or more. However, when they have been held below four goals in a game they are (0-4-1) in those five games. If they are unable to get to 4 goals in this game it could be a bad omen for this team or a big opportunity to rewrite the narrative of this team’s issues within low scoring games. They are going to have most likely win at least one game scoring 4 or less if they plan on winning the title this week.

Raiders Special Teams- The Power Play is at 40.4% and Penalty Kill is at 87.1%

Below are are the links to the 15 Questions in 60 seconds that YHH does.

Always enjoy these allows you to get to know the players more:

Northfield Senior #20 Cayden Monson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXfpCzk6Ck4&t=1s

St Cloud Cathedral Junior #6 John Hirschfeld/b]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyNkUC_asnQ

LPH Preview of St Cloud Cathedral vs Northfield
St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (23-4-1)

LPH Final Rankings: 2

Goals for-Goals Against: 4.71-2.11

Power Play %: 19.0%

PK %: 85.3%

Goals Leader: Joey Gillespie (29)

Assists leader: John Hirschfeld (51)

Points leader: John Hirschfeld (75)

The Crusaders put together a strong regular season performance, finishing the year with a 23-4-1 record overall. They continued their high-level play through the postseason and defeated Monticello 4-1 in the section final to earn themselves a trip to the state tourney. They are now pitted against Northfield in the first round which they will play on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

A young team a season ago, the Crusaders are mature and ready to make another run at the title.

“We’re a very deep, experienced team. We’ve got a fantastic first line that has produced a ton of offense this year, but we’ve also got considerable production from our second and third lines as well. We have a fantastic goaltender and defensive corps that have played tremendous hockey down the stretch,” said Head Coach Robbie Stocker.

Just because they’re a year older as a team, doesn’t mean the youth movement of this St. Cloud team hasn’t made an impact. John Hirschfeld leads the team in points again, but this time as a junior. Hirschfeld has scored 24-51-75 and his vision and playmaking ability has improved even from last season. The Crusaders have three 60 point scorers on the roster, with Andrew Dwinnell and Joey Gillespie, as well as Hirschfeld. Nick Hansen has been the usual starter in the crease, and there’s a reaso.. Hansen enters St. Paul with a 16-0-1 record, 1.44 GAA, 0.936 Sv% and four shutouts. He suffered an injury during the first half of the season, but is back and is healthy and ready to lead the Crusaders in their quest of their second state tourney title.


John Hirschfeld has 24-51-75 this season as a Junior for the Crusaders. LET’S PLAY HOCKEY PHOTO BY BRYAN ZOLLMAN.
The Crusaders have young players, but they also have the tournament experience that is needed to make a run.

“I think that being a veteran team that’s got experience playing in this tournament will pay dividends. We’ve played a very difficult schedule this year, which has thrown a lot of different variables at us. I think that experience will also serve us well as the tourney tends to bring some unexpected situations,” said Stocker.

For every team that makes the trip to St. Paul, there is that one player or few players who go under the radar, but without them, the team just wouldn’t be the same. That’s the same for St. Cloud Cathedral.

“Cole Hwang is a phenomenal player and leader on this team that doesn’t always get the accolades. He plays a true 200-foot game and is looked to in all situations on the ice. He’s been a fantastic player for us the past 3 seasons and is a huge part of our success.”

The Crusaders started the season not losing a game for almost a month, before they fell to Rock Ridge on December 16. They ended their regular season pretty similar winning nine straight games before the playoffs, where they swept the section.

Northfield Raiders (22-4-0)

LPH Final Ranking: 8

Goals for-Goals Against: 5.25-1.79

Power Play: 40.4%

PK: 87.1%

Goals Leader: Kam Kaiser (36)

Assists leader: Jake Geiger (38)

Points leader: Jake Geiger (64)

Northfield put together an impressive 22-4-2 record over the course of the year and dominated the Big Nine conference finishing with a 14-1-0 record. They went on to defeat Dodge County 4-1 in the section final to propel themselves toward the state tournament. They will now face a tough test against St. Cloud Cathedral in the first round of the state playoffs at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Raiders have a good amount of depth scoring on their roster. It starts with three players who scored over 50 points this season: Kam Kaiser (55), Cayden Monson (57), and Jake Geiger (64). They also can get some scoring from the blue line, with Ben Geiger, Bridger Riley and Ty Frank all having 19 or more points. The Raiders are led between the pipes with Max Frank who sports a 1.58 GAAm 0.921 Sv% and four shutouts.

The Raiders have only suffered three losses since December 19. They have lost to St. Cloud Cathedral, Owatonna, and Delano. The Raiders have allowed just four goals in their three playoff games, thanks to goaltender Frank and their defense.

They will have a tall task in shutting down Cathedral’s top line, but Cathedral may have the same issue with Northfield’s top line as these two squads probably have the top two lines in the tournament.

StarTribune GameDay Preview of St Cloud Cathedral vs Northfield

Northfield (22-4-2) vs. No. 3 seed St. Cloud Cathedral (23-4-1), 1 p.m.
SCOUTING THE NORTHFIELD RAIDERS

State tournament trips: third.

Top three scorers: Jake Geiger, senior F (26 goals, 38 assists); Cayden Monson, senior F (21 goals, 36 assists); Kam Kaiser, senior F (36 goals, 19 assists).

In goal: Max Frank, junior — 14-3-1, 1.58 GAA, 92.1% saves, four shutouts; Trey Shimota, senior — 8-1-1, 1.97 GAA, 90.3% saves, two shutouts.

Did you know? Watch out for Northfield's 40.4% power play, led by Kaiser, who scored 15 of his goals with the man advantage.

SCOUTING THE ST. CLOUD CATHEDRAL CRUSADERS

State tournament trips: 12th.

Top three scorers: John Hirschfeld, junior F (24 goals, 51 assists); Andrew Dwinnell, senior F (26 goals, 41 assists); Joey Gillespie, junior F (29 goals, 31 assists).

In goal: Nick Hansen, senior — 16-0-1, 1.44 GAA, 93.6% saves, four shutouts.

Did you know? John Hirschfeld leads the state in assists with 51.

1-0 early on NFLD Goalie Turnover

1-1

elliott70 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 1:42 pm1-1

Good one so Far this is the type of Pace and compete you love to see at State. 1-1 late 1st period still

ClassAGuy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 1:54 pm

elliott70 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 1:42 pm1-1

Good one so Far this is the type of Pace and compete you love to see at State. 1-1 late 1st period still

Northfield is pretty gritty.
Cathedral more finesse.

BHS Class A State QF #2
#3 SCC1
NFLD 1
End of 1st Period
Excellent period of hockey both teams get one early in the period and then settle in to play very high tempo period of hockey. We look to be in for a treat with this one.
SOG 8-6 NFLD

SCC with a big goal from the 2nd lien to take a 2-1 lead 2nd period

SCC PP goal and its 3-1 now 2nd period

BHS Class A State QF #2
#3 SCC 3
NFLD 1
2nd Period
St Cloud Cathedral takes their game to another level that period and outshoots Norhfield 13-5 in the second period and scores twice to take a 3-1 lead into the final period.
SOG- SCC 19-13

SCC on the PP 4-1 now 3rd period

BHS Class A State QF #2
#3 SCC 5
NFLD 1
Final
St Cloud Cathedral uses a big 2nd & 3rd period to pull away in this one as they outscore Northfield 4-0 in the final two frames and they head into the Semifinals for the 1st time since 2020!