No. 4 Mahtomedi rallied to a 2-1 comeback win over No. 5 St. Cloud Cathedral in their Class A state boys hockey quarterfinal on Wednesday afternoon at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

Mahtomedi goaltender Jackson Chesak (30) stops a breakaway attempt by St. Cloud Cathedral forward Brandan White (5) during the second period of a Class A quarterfinal game of the State Boys Hockey Tournament at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on Wedesday, March 4, 2026. (Matt Blewett / Special to the Pioneer Press)

The Zephyrs (17-9-2)  fell behind after a Crusaders power-play goal partway through the second, but they responded with goals from junior forward Will Seevers and senior forward Brayden Fuerst, who got what proved to be the game winner with 2:59 to play.

Fuerst skated the full length of the ice toward a massive Zephyrs student section after the game-winning goal. He said it was great to share that moment with the Mahtomedi community.

“Our community is awesome,” Fuerst said. “They support all of us, and you could see out there our whole community was here. The whole school was.”

Zephyrs goaltender Jackson Chesak kept his team in the fight, making 35 saves. He said defensive communication was key to holding a potent Crusaders attack at bay.

The matchup featured two schools who combined to win four of the previous seven Class A state titles. Mahtomedi’s latest state championship came in 2023, while St. Cloud Cathedral won in 2024.

The Zephyrs fired 21 shots towards the net in the first period, but only 10 found their way to Crusaders goaltender Hunter Moreland.

Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl said he talked to his team about not just flinging shots towards the net and being more intentional during the first intermission.

“If a player makes a good block and you got your head up, you tip your hat,” Poeschl said. “But when you got your head down and buried, and you’re just trying to put it towards goal and hitting shin pads and bodies, that’s what we tried to adjust.”

St. Cloud Cathedral defender Elijah Van Heel (19) shoots against Mahtomedi during the second period of a Class A quarterfinal game of the State Boys Hockey Tournament at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on Wedesday, March 4, 2026. (Matt Blewett / Special to the Pioneer Press)

In the second, Crusaders freshman forward Brandan White had a big chance on a juicy rebound saved by Chesak directly after stopping Elijah Van Heel’s shot from the slot. Chesak’s back-to-back saves kept it scoreless halfway through the contest.

Mahtomedi took the first penalty when Seevers was whistled for slashing with 7:50 to play in the second. Cathedral sophomore forward Bo Schmidt scored just nine seconds into the power play to give the Crusaders (17-11) the game’s opening goal.

Seevers answered by scoring his 14th goal of the year on a feed from Vinny Redpath to tie it exactly 14 minutes into the second frame.

Poeschl said Seevers’ response to Mahtomedi conceding on goal on his penalty was “tremendous.”

“Will has scored for us all season long, especially the last month. He has been lights out,” Poeschl said. “I wasn’t surprised that it was him to tie things up and got us going.”

After the Crusaders killed off a minor penalty, Cathedral had a breakaway chance that saw Talen Ruprecht smash the post. The rebound bounced Mahtomedi’s way with seconds remaining, and the Zephyrs sprinted ahead with numbers.

Fuerst led the rush and appeared to score after playing a one-two with Redpath. But the puck crossed the goal line one second after the horn and was disallowed.

The Zephyrs had another goal disallowed earlier due to Devin O’Donnell’s stick being high when he redirected the puck into the net just 97 seconds into the third period.

Mahtomedi was called for another penalty midway through the third, but Chesak made all five saves to kill it off.

With that momentum, Mahtomedi pushed forward. Fuerst beat his man and flicked the puck on net, deflecting off the underside of Moreland’s glove and into the net.

The Crusaders pulled their goaltender with 86 seconds left, and with the extra attacker had a deflected shot by Schmidt hit the goal post. But Mahtomedi held on despite an avalanche of late chances for Cathedral.

Hibbing-Chisholm 4, Dodge County 1

Top-seeded Hibbing-Chisholm (25-2-2) rolled over No. 8 Dodge County (19-9-1) in the Class A opener.

Hibbing-Chisholm senior Tate Swanson scored five minutes into the second period to open the scoring. Isaiah Hildenbrand and Joe Gabardi lit the lamp twice more inside the final 90 seconds of the frame.

The Bluejackets scored again with 5:34 to play in the game on a snipe by sophomore Whitaker Rewertz. Dodge County avoided a shutout with a between-the-legs goal two minutes later via freshman forward Nolan Steele.

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