It took nearly 20 minutes, but St. Cloud Cathedral exorcized whatever nerves it carried into Wednesday afternoon’s Class 1A quarterfinal matchup early in the second period.

“We were nervous; obviously we played that way,” St. Cloud Cathedral coach Derrick Brown said during the postgame press conference. “We just don’t have a lot of guys from even two years ago that had a lot of experience here (at the state tournament), and I think that showed.” 

The Crusaders (25-4), the tournament’s No. 2 seed, turned a slim one-goal lead into a six-goal rout in a matter of minutes, with junior forward Nate Warner leading the band with a natural hat trick in less than 10 minutes. 

“The whole team, we started moving pucks, we were getting up the ice a lot faster,” Warner said of his team’s electric second stanza. “I guess I just had the luxury of getting the goals, but anybody could’ve scored them.”

Warner’s first goal, which came while the Crusaders were shorthanded, dulled the axes of the Vikings, who slowed to a near-standstill for the remainder of the game. 

“The first period, I thought we controlled our emotions, our nerves,” North Branch coach Matt Cottingham said. “I think a few things didn’t go our way,” Cottingham added, citing an instance when the Vikings (19-8-2) would have had a two-on-zero rush if not for the puck being caught in the skates on an official along the boards. “That’s life,” Cottingham said with a shrug. 

Two of the Crusaders’ goals came from utility man Luke Schmidt, who’s played a mix of forward and defense this season. 

Schmidt said that the Crusaders have been playing with lineup combinations all season, and added that he hadn’t scored two goals in a game since peewees.

“We’ve had some injuries,” Schmidt said. “I’ve been bouncing back and forth this year, guys (are) just moving around.” 

Brown lauded Schmidt’s ability to fill any role for the Crusaders. 

“He’s a good senior, he’s a good leader, and he does a lot of things that go unnoticed,” Brown said. “For him to be here and get some notoriety, good for Luke.