St. Cloud Cathedral forward Jackson Savoie (29) was cheered by the Crusaders' fan section after scoring a short-handed goal in the first period against Greenway. Photo: ANTHONY SOUFFLE • anthony.souffle@startribune.com
The final buzzer sounded, and a kid in the crowd going bonkers cleverly modified his handmade sign. The upper left corner with the letters UN were ripped off and discarded.
Now it read, “FINISHED BUSINESS.”
St. Cloud Cathedral’s “Unfinished Business” motto became a season-long rallying cry for players and fans alike, ever since Crusaders coach Derrick Brown made an off-the-cuff remark using those words a year ago at the team’s season-ending banquet.
“That was kind of the key to our whole year,” junior forward Nate Warner said Saturday after the Crusaders’ 5-2 triumph over state tournament darling Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin in the Class 1A championship. “It was one of those things that just brought everybody together, and everyone rallied around it.”
St. Cloud Cathedral’s first title in nine state tournament appearances also was the first for any team from St. Cloud and all of central Minnesota. It cleansed the bitter taste of last season’s double-overtime section final loss to Alexandria.
“We said at the beginning of the year that we had unfinished business, and today we trashed the briefcase because we finished the business,” Brown said of the unusual award given all season to the Crusaders’ player of the game.
1. Jackson Savoie, St. Cloud Cathedral, senior
The 6-2 speedster extended his torrid tournament scoring pace, notching two goals — including the game-winner — to give him four for the tournament and 22 this season.
2. Noah Amundson, St. Cloud Cathedral, senior
The Crusaders were outshot for the second consecutive game, but Amundson was his usual razor-sharp self, making 27 saves.
3. Jack Smith, St. Cloud Cathedral, junior
Scored a backbreaker late in the second period, rifling a shot high into the net to give the Crusaders a two-goal cushion. He also assisted on Nate Warner’s empty-netter.
Jackson Savoie scored twice as No. 2 seed St. Cloud Cathedral defeated Greenway 5-2 on Saturday to win the Class 1A championship, its first title in nine state tournament appearances.
Savoie, a senior forward, scored his second of the game and fourth of the tournament 1:52 into the second period to put St. Cloud Cathedral (27-4-0) ahead 3-2. Junior forward Jack Smith, who has committed to play at Minnesota Duluth, scored his fourth of the tournament and 31st of the season late in the stanza to make it 4-2.
Senior forward Donte Lawson opened the scoring for Greenway (17-14-0) 2:20 into the first, but the Crusaders answered with goals by Luke Schmidt and Savoie to pull ahead 2-1. Greenway’s Cameron Lantz tied it at 2 with his power-play blast from the point with 2:55 left in the opening stanza.