If seedings are an accurate judge, Cretin-Derham Hall wasn’t supposed to be playing Friday night. Yet there the Raiders were in high school hockey’s grandest event.

A storm surge did them in.

Jack Christ scored twice, Gavin Uhlenkamp had three assists, and No. 2 Chanhassen halted the Raiders’ magical postseason run with a 6-1 win in a Class 2A state semifinal at Xcel Energy Center.

Kam Hendrickson made just 10 saves, only beaten by Cam Autrey off a rebound during a third-period Raiders power-play.

“We haven’t seen a team that deep and that good all year,” said Cretin Derham-Hall coach Matt Funk.

In its first tournament, the senior-heavy Storm (26-5-0) will face either top-seeded Edina or No. 5 Grand Rapids in Saturday’s 7 p.m. final. The Hornets led 4-0 after one period in the other semifinal.

“We have a lot of seniors, but we also have a lot of underclassmen that do key roles for us,” said Andy Earl, who had two assists for the Storm. “It’s truly a dream come true for everyone.”

As for the unseeded Raiders (18-11-1), they’ll play for third place with the second-best finish in the school’s six tournament appearances within reach. Cretin-Derham Hall won the 2006 title and finished fourth last year.

“Last year we got knocked out in the semis by a really good Edina team and then in the third-place game we didn’t go into it caring too much about it,” said senior goalie Leo Miller, who made 14 saves in the final two periods after replacing Owen Nelson, who had 11 saves. “… Going out on a win, hanging another banner or getting another medal is something special. Being the second-best Cretin team to come through this school in my senior year, ending on a win, there’s something to be said about that for sure.”

Seeded fifth in its section, Cretin-Derham Hall rolled off three straight upsets to reach the state tournament. The Raiders trailed 3-0 early in their Thursday quarterfinal before rallying to upset No. 3 Centennial 4-3 in double overtime.

It was déjà vu Friday. Then it got worse.

A neutral zone turnover led to the first goal for speedy Chanhassen.

Uhlenkamp, a Wisconsin commit, split a pair of Raiders defenders entering the offensive zone. Cutting across the crease, his backhand attempt was stopped by a sliding Nelson, but Christ, a Minnesota State Mankato commit, dashed in alone to easily pot the loose puck at 7:05.

Brayden Willis scored from below the left circle and, as his goal was being announced, Christ scored 24 seconds later and it was 3-0 Chanhassen.

“Even though we did it the night before, coming back from a three-goal deficit against that team and a goaltender like that would be hard to do,” Funk said.

The Storm has allowed 31 goals in its 29 games, including more than two only in a season-opening loss to Andover.

Tyler Smith deftly converted a feed from Willis to make it 4-0 with 36.3 seconds left in the opening frame, a period in which the Storm had 13 of the last 14 shots on goal.

Smith said the late goal “hyped us up a little bit,” but that the Storm had to settle down in the locker room between periods and keep playing their game.

“We just saw what Mahtomedi did to Hermantown, so it was really like gas pedal keep to the floor,” Earl said. The Zephyrs trailed by four goals early before falling 7-6 in overtime of a Class A semifinal.

Forced to the start the second period on a 5-minute penalty kill, the Cretin-Derham Hall defense largely kept Chanhassen out of Grade A scoring chance areas and Miller made four saves during the kill.

With a game yet to play, Funk knows how special a group he is coaching.

“There’s a lot of kids out there that want to be Raiders because of how these guys carry themselves. I don’t know if their parents want ’em to have the gold hair and all that stuff. These are really good kids that do the right thing, they’re great in the community, they get good grades, I think we have a team GPA of 3.77. … They’ll be defined by way more than a (state) semifinal loss.”

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