Defending state champions and No. 2 seeded St. Cloud Cathedral took care of business on Wednesday morning during the first quarterfinal game of the Class A state playoffs. They took on No. 7 seeded Mankato East at the Xcel Energy Center where they defeated them by a whopping score of 11-2. Mankato East had been on a cinderella run through the section playoffs but St. Cloud Cathedral proved to be too much to handle. 

St. Cloud came out the gate firing on all cylinders and were able to end the first period up 4-1 after receiving goals from Reid, Bogenholm, Bradyn Balfanz, Jack Smith and Jon Bell. They kept their foot on the gas through the second period and found themselves up 9-2 going into the third period. Nate Warner, Blake Perbix, Jacob Hirschfeld, Cullen Hiltner and Smith all found the back of the net in the second period. 

Chandler Henricks and Mack Motzko put the finishing touches on the game by each scoring a goal in the third period and delivering an 11-2 victory. 

Cathedral stayed aggressive all game long and ended the game with 48 shots on goal in comparison to Mankato East’s total of 13. Each team committed two penalties throughout the game.

St. Cloud is now set to play tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. against the winner of No. 3 seeded Hermantown vs. No. 6 seeded Monticello.