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St. Cloud Cathedral drops Orono in 15-goal contest between top-10 teams

By Heather Rule, SportsEngine, 01/11/19, 6:30PM CST

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Nate Warner and Jack Smith led the Crusaders offense, combining for 10 points as the Crusaders beat the Spartans 9-6.

St. Cloud Cathedral forward Jack Smith buries a power-play goal in the first period of Saturday's game in Orono. Smith finished with two goals and six points in the Crusaders' 9-6 win over the Spartans. Photo by Drew Herron, SportsEngine

St. Cloud Cathedral forward Jack Smith buries a power-play goal in the first period of Saturday's game in Orono. Smith finished with two goals and six points in the Crusaders' 9-6 win over the Spartans. Photo by Drew Herron, SportsEngine

For the third time this season, St. Cloud Cathedral scored a season-high nine goals. The Crusaders got points from nine different players and goals from six of them on Saturday, including a hat trick from junior forward Nate Warner.

Sounds like a recipe for a great win, right?

Well, sort of. The Crusaders, ranked No. 2 in the Class 1A coaches’ poll, got the victory over No. 6-1A Orono, but it was probably their worst game of the year, according to Crusaders coach Derrick Brown.

“But that’s okay,” Brown said. “It was a weird day. I’ve never been a part of a game like that.”

St. Cloud Cathedral (14-1) defeated Orono 9-6 at Orono Ice Arena, halting a five-game winning streak for its opponent. While the victory is still an overall positive for the record, it can be put into perspective a little bit. The Crusaders came into the game having allowed just 18 goals all season — and no more than three in a single game — before surrendering a half-dozen goals to the Spartans, the defending Class 1A champions.

Orono forward Daniel Walker finishes a check along the boards as St. Cloud Cathedral's Blake Perbix fights for the puck. Photo by Drew Herron, SportsEngine

Orono forward Daniel Walker finishes a check along the boards as St. Cloud Cathedral's Blake Perbix fights for the puck. Photo by Drew Herron, SportsEngine

First Report

St. Cloud Cathedral got off to a fast, 4-0 start against Orono, the defending Class 1A champion. The Crusaders needed every one of those early tallies.

Though the Spartans didn’t go away quietly, the early padding helped propel St. Cloud Cathedral (14-1) to a 9-6 win against Orono Saturday afternoon at Orono Ice Arena.

Against Orono, ranked No. 6 in the Class 1A coaches’ poll, No. 2-1A St. Cloud Cathedral proved its scoring depth with goals from five players in the first two periods alone. In their four-goal first period, the Crusaders scored a pair of power-play goals just 42 seconds apart to take a 4-0 lead before the Spartans got on the board before the first intermission.

Junior forwards Nate Warner and Jack Smith combined for 10 points to lead the Crusaders offense. Warner had a hat trick and notched an assist, while Smith tallied two goals and four assists.

For the Spartans (9-5), who saw their season-long five-game winning streak halted, Zack Simon and Fisher Eiss each scored a pair of goals. Simon added two assists and Eiss had one helper.

The Crusaders have won 14 of 15 games this season, with their only blemish being a 2-1 loss to Hermantown on Jan. 4.

The MN Hockey Hub poll is for entertainment purposes only.

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