St. Cloud Cathedral forward John Hirschfeld (6) assisted on Joey Gillespie's first-period goal against Orono in the Class 1A semifinal at the Xcel Energy Center on Friday. The Crusaders scored three more to defeat the Spartans 4-1 and advance to the state championship on Saturday. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

After the puck dropped Friday at the first Class 1A boys hockey state semifinal at Xcel Energy Center, it looked like Orono would be the team to capitalize on a fast start.

The St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders, the defending 1A champion, effectively said “not so fast”.

St. Cloud Cathedral, the second seed in the bracket, weathered some early chances by sixth seed Orono to eventually win 4-1 and return to the state championship game in hopes of becoming the first back-to-back 1A champs since Hermantown did it in 2016 and 2017. Cathedral also won in 2019.

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Class 1A tournament bracket