When they last met in the regular-season finale three weeks ago, Mahtomedi recorded a one-goal victory over St. Cloud Cathedral. There was a sense then that the perennial entrants in the state tournament would see one another again soon. They did, this time in the quarterfinals of the Class A Boys Hockey State Tournament on Wednesday at Grand Casino Arena.
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The action from both games were a blueprint with great offensive creativity and timely defense.
The result ended up being the same as well, this time a 2-1 victory for the No. 4-seeded Zephyrs. Like the earlier matchup and ones before in the history of both teams, this went down to the wire. Senior forward Brayden Fuerst scored with 2:59 left in regulation time to snap the draw and send the Zephyrs (18-9-2) to the semifinals for another meeting with No. 1 Hibbing/Chisholm/VCA this season.
Fuerst engineered the scoring play when he raced down the left side of the ice along the boards. When he reached the lower part of the circle, he angled in toward St. Cloud Cathedral senior goalie Hunter Moreland. As Fuerst crashed the net, he was able to get enough zip on a backhand shot. The puck made its way to Moreland and disappeared under him. The puck reappeared when it went off the inner left pad and had enough momentum to cross the goal line.
“I saw the defense and I thought, just take it to the net,” Fuerst said.
Was he surprised it went in?
“Yeah, he said. “I don’t score on many of those shots but I’m glad it went in.”
One period earlier, Mahtomedi, which defeated St. Cloud Cathedral 4-3 on Feb. 13, forged a 1-all tie when junior Will Seevers received a pass from sophomore forward Vinny Redpath, who was behind the St. Cloud Cathedral goal. Seevers steadied the puck by kicking it onto his stick and then sending a shot past Moreland, who finished with 27 saves.
St. Cloud Cathedral (17-12-0) opened the scoring with just more than nine minutes elapsed on a power-play goal from sophomore forward Bo Schmidt, who blasted a one-timer past Mahtomedi goalie Jackson Chesek. Chesek finished with 35 saves.
Mahtomedi lost 7-4 to Hibbing/Chisholm/VCA on Dec. 20.
Courtesy: MSHSL
