#1 seed St. Cloud Cathedral (15-11-0) comes into this game having taken out Princeton in the 5A Quarterfinal Round, and the Crusaders have now won (9-4-0) since the start of 2026, and with the losses only coming vs Top 20 Class A Teams. The 3 time defending 5A champs struggled at the beginning of the year, but they have found their new core, and they went unbeaten in 5A. One of those wins was over the Storm, who they shutout in their holiday classic. As has been the case all year, they will need big efforts from Soph. Bo Schmidt up front and Sr. Griffin Sturm on the back end, and the other key is in net as Sr. Hunter Moreland has been great since getting the starter's job to begin the new year, and he was in net for the shutout in this matchup earlier in the year.
#4 Seed Sauk Rapids-Rice (14-11-1) was able to win a thriller in the 5A Quarterfinal Round as they staged a dramatic late comeback and then ended it quickly in overtime to defeat Litchfield Dassel Cokato. The Storm have been on fire late in the year as they come into this game (10-1-0) in their last 11 games. They get huge contributions out of the top line of Srs. Bryden Prelvitz, Elijah Fitch & Dominic Stucke, and on the blueline from Sr. Chase Hiltner. The depth is limited, and they were shut down in the first meeting with the Crusaders, but they have been unstoppable on their hot streak late in the year. However, for them to shock many and pull the upset here, they will need Sr. Landon Jennings to have his best game of the year, as they have leaked goals all year as an Achilles heel to this team.
5A SF- #1 Cathedral vs #4 Sauk Rapids
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
Re: 5A SF- #1 Cathedral vs #4 Sauk Rapids
St. Cloud Cathedral 7
Sauk Rapids-Rice 2
Sauk Rapids-Rice 2