In an effort to beef up his team's schedule after winning the Class 1A state championship last March, St. Cloud Cathedral coach Derrick Brown added several Class 2A opponents to the Crusaders’ schedule, Andover among them.
St. Cloud Cathedral (9-1-1, 0-0-0), which returns most of its top players from last season, overcame the absence of standout forward Jack Smith (shoulder injury) and an early 4-1 deficit to tie No. 1-1A Hermantown 5-5 last Friday. The No. 6-1A Crusaders will likely need another monster game (two goals, two assists against the Hawks) from senior Minnesota commit Nate Warner to have a shot at beating the No. 3-2A Huskies.
Andover (9-2-0, 3-0-0) is led by, arguably, the state’s top defenseman in senior Wyatt Kaiser, a Minnesota Duluth commit who has five goals and nine assists and figures to be on the short list of Mr. Hockey candidates.