St. Cloud Cathedral downs Orono in Minnesota high school boys hockey state tournament semifinal: Live score recap

Get real-time game updates from the 2025 MSHSL boys hockey state tournament semifinals between the Crusaders and the Spartans

Jack Butler | Mar 7, 2025

St. Cloud Cathedral hockey senior Connor Stockman plays against Mahtomedi in the state semifinal March 5, 2025 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Crusaders won 3-0. / Reid Glenn / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The No. 2 St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders (20-8-2) defeated the No. 6 Orono Spartans (16-11-3) 4-1 in the 2025 Minnesota (MSHSL) high school boys hockey state tournament Class 1A semifinals on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Spartans, missing leading scorer Jackson Knight, opened the Class 1A semifinal with the intensity needed to compensate for his absence. But even with a good start, St. Cloud Cathedral scored two goals in the first half of the first period.

Minnesota high school boys hockey state tournament: Semifinal scores, recaps, live updates (3/7/2025)

“I give credit to the guys,” Orono head coach Mitch Hall said. “They came out with a lot of buzz. It was a shot to our momentum when they popped those quick ones.”

Senior forward Joey Gillespie scored the first for the Crusaders, and senior forward Jaeger Wood scored the second on a bar-down goal.

“He has the best shot on the team, hands down,” Crusader coach Robbie Stocker said. “I don’t think there is anybody who has a better shot in Class A hockey that we’ve seen. He’s been due to be putting in goals like this for three years now. He really committed this offseason to getting quicker and finding more space for that shot, and he’s really reaped the rewards for that shot.”

Wood started the season on St. Cloud Cathedral’s first line, but he moved to the second line after freshman Bo Schmidt moved up.

“Obviously, my goal was to play on the first line, but [Schmidt] came up and it gelled, and that was fine,” Wood said. “If I had to lead the second line, I was fine with it.”

The move paid off for the Crusaders. Wood has capitalized against opponents' second lines late in the season.

“He’s a huge mismatch for us,” Stocker said. “To be able to have a guy with his talent going against other teams' second lines is phenomenal. … He’s still playing huge minutes on our power-play unit.”

Meanwhile, the Crusaders’ defense continued to play well. It has only allowed one goal so far in the state tournament.

“I think they’re playing fantastic,” Stocker said. “Keaton [LeGrande] has been playing really well in net, but we’ve been eating a lot of pucks. … It’s been some of our best results on the D-end all year, which is a great time of year to have that happen.”

The Crusaders will defend their 2024 Class 1A title in the championship on Saturday at 12 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. They will play the winner of No. 1 Hibbing/Chisholm vs. No. 4 East Grand Forks.

St. Cloud Cathedral downs Orono in Minnesota high school boys hockey state tournament semifinal: Live score recap

Teams are on the ice for introductions and the national anthem. Puck drop will be closer to 11:10 a.m.

FIRST PERIOD UPDATES

The first period is underway.

GOAL ST. CLOUD CATHEDRAL! Joey Gillespie gets the goal in front of the net for the Crusaders. Griffin Sturm with the assist. The Crusaders lead 1-0 with 15 minutres remaining in the period.

GOAL ST. CLOUD CATHEDRAL! Jaeger Wood hits the crossbar and the puck bounces in from a shot right in front of Orono's goalie. Caden Johnson with the assist. St. Cloud Cathedral leads 2-0 with 9:39 remaining.

The goal was reviewed and upheld.

POWER PLAY FOR ORONO! Ian Bacik gets a 2-minute penalty for tripping. — 6:22 remains in the period.

St. Cloud Cathedral kills the penalty.

POWER PLAY FOR ORONO! Sturm gets called for high-sticking — 2:20 remains in the first period.

St. Cloud Cathedral kills the penalty.

END OF FIRST PERIOD: St. Cloud Cathedral 2, Orono 0

The Crusaders have a 6-5 shots-on-goal advantage.

SECOND PERIOD UPDATES

The second period is underway.

Ten minutes remain in the second period. Orono some pressure but nothing to show for it.

POWER PLAY FOR ST. CLOUD CATHEDRAL! Miller Williams gets a two-minute penalty — 9 minutes remain in the period.

GOAL ST. CLOUD CATHEDRAL! Bo Schmidt on the power play. Wood and Sturm with the assist. St. Cloud Cathedral leads 3-0 with 8:30 remaining in the second period.

END OF SECOND PERIOD: St. Cloud Cathedral 3, Orono 0

The Crusaders have a 13 to 12 shots-on-goal advantage.

THIRD PERIOD UPDATES

The third period is underway.

Crusader John Hirschfeld is tripped by a Orono defender on a breakaway. The referees call a penalty shot, but Hirschfeld misses wide left — 13:55 remains in the third period.

Seven minutes remain in the period and St. Cloud Cathedral is in control. Orono has spent little time in the Crusaders' zone.

Crusader goalie Keaton LeGrande with a great glove save on an Orono shot right in front of him — six minutes remain in the game.

POWER PLAY FOR ORONO! Caden Johnson gets two minutes for hooking — 4:54 remains in the game

GOAL ORONO! Ethan Pagel puts the puck under LeGrande's pads from behind the goal-line on the power play — 3:21 remaining in the game, St. Cloud Cathedral leads 3-1.

Orono pulls its goalie.

GOAL ORONO! Wood scores the empty-net goal. St. Cloud Cathedral leads 4-1 with one minute remaining.