St. Cloud Cathedral falls in state hockey tournament to Warroad

Turning up the ice after yet another save from junior goalie Nick Hansen on Wednesday in the first round of the Class 2A state boys hockey tournament, St. Cloud Cathedral passed the puck not to a Crusader, but to Carson Pilgrim, the leader of one of the best lines in the state.

Pilgrim slid the puck forward to linemate Murray Marvin-Cordes, who sealed the game with the Warriors’ fourth goal of the night.

Still undefeated, No. 1 Warroad (28-0) advances past St. Cloud Cathedral (16-13) for a semifinal berth in the second season in a row.

Including the third-period goal from Marvin-Cordes, that line had nine points in the 5-1 win over Cathedral. Pilgrim netted three goals himself.

Cathedral entered the Excel Center matchup with a tough draw: one of the bottom three teams to make state, it randomly drew the top-seeded team in the tournament, and a team Cathedral coach Robbie Stocker called “the No. 1 team in the state in both classes” after the game.

“I’d say their speed and that stuff is pretty similar (to what we’ve seen this season), but their creativity and the stuff they do to work together is kind of top-notch,” senior defenseman Tommy Gohman said.

“It’s a different animal,” Stocker added.

Warroad lost last year’s championship game to Hermantown by just a goal and lists 24 upperclassmen on its roster. Cathedral relies heavily on several sophomores and plays no senior forwards.

On Wednesday, Warroad’s experience showed, with the Warriors outshooting Cathedral 43-23. The Warriors skated better, passed better, and certainly shot and defended better than the Crusaders.

Stocker also lauded Warroad’s senior goalie before the game, calling Hampton Slukynsky “the best goalie in the state.”

The Crusaders opened the season against the undefeated Warriors, losing November 26 at the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Conference, getting shut out 4-0.

Warroad’s defense certainly did its job again Wednesday, even while shorthanded, which it was on three occasions. Cathedral’s only goal came at even strength from sophomore Joey Gillespie at 9:19 in the second period. The goal tied the game at 1-1, but the Warrior defense tightened and held the Crusaders at just one goal until the final horn.

Despite its strong start, Cathedral wasn't as successful.

Just 20 seconds after Cathedral sophomore John Hirshfeld was locked in the penalty box at 16:26 in the 2nd for tripping, Pilgrim gave Warroad a 2-1 lead with his second goal, this time wide open off a neat cross from senior Jayson Shaugabay, who scored himself in the 3rd period. Shaugabay had his 300th career point in the contest.

“There aren’t many kids in the history of high school hockey that can say that,” Warroad coach Jay Hardwick said.

Hansen, who had a .911 season save percentage before Wednesday, did what he could in front of the Crusader goal, making 38 saves, including several close calls by the tip of his pads or while lying flat on the ice.

Stocker was happy with his defense, but a few sloppy passes or receptions plagued Cathedral, causing turnovers in the defensive zone and in front of the Warrior goal, and fast breaks are hard to defend for only the man between the posts.

“I thought we did a really good job of keeping them on the outside,” Stocker said. “I think they got a couple of good bounces where we didn’t in front of the net and I think that was honestly the difference in the game."

It’s especially hard to defend an empty goal, and that’s when Pilgrim capped his hat trick with less than a second remaining in the game.

Despite the lopsided loss, Stocker was proud of the effort his team put forth, especially in the first and second periods, after which it was just a 2-1 game.

“I just told the boys my two objectives coming in to the night was believing in each other and leave it all out on the ice and we checked both of those boxes 100%,” Stocker said. “Not a single guy had anything left in the tank and I thought we gave them a game and we pushed them, I think, a lot more than they expected to be pushed by us.”

The Warriors play their semifinal game at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Excel Center against Orono which defeated Northfeld in overtime in the late game 2-1. Warroad has not faced the Spartans this season.

In the consolation bracket, Cathedral will play the Raiders at noon Thursday at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Cathedral hockey