ST. PAUL - Senior forward Jaeger Wood, red-hot in the playoffs, had two goals and an assist as defending state Class 1A champion St. Cloud Cathedral, the No. 2 seed, reached a second -straight title game with a 4-1 win on Friday over No. 6 seed Orono in a state semifinal at the Xcel Energy Center.

Wood scored midway through the second period to put the Crusaders (20-8-2) ahead 2-0 and assisted on freshman forward Bo Schmidt’s goal that made it 3-0 midway through the second. Wood completed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:05 remaining.

Ethan Pagel scored Orono’s lone goal with 3:31 left. Shooting from behind the goal line, he banked the puck in off the stick of Cathedral goaltender Keaton Legrande to make it 3-1 and ruin the Crusaders’ bid for a second-straight tournament shutout. 

Wood has done his best work in the playoffs, scoring 10 goals in five postseason games. He has 23 goals in all. Schmidt’s goal was his sixth of the playoffs and 17th of the season. 

Legrande, a junior in his first season as a full-time starter, made 13 saves. Evan Schmidt had 11 stops for Orono (16-11-3). 

For the second-straight tournament game Orono played without leading scorer Jackson Knight. A junior with 33 goals and 29 assists, Knight was dressed and on the bench encouraging teammates but did not see any game action. Orono coach Mitch Hall declined to disclose the nature of Knight’s injury.

Freshman Bo Schmidt's power-play goal put St. Cloud Cathedral ahead 3-0 and gave the Crusaders an added jolt of energy. Schmidt took a pass from behind the net from Wood and fired a shot in off the catching glove of Orono goaltender Evan Schmidt.

2: Straight appearances for St. Cloud Cathedral in the state Class 1A title game

2016 and 2017: The last time a Class 1A team (Hermantown) won back-to-back titles

12: Points in five playoff games for St. Cloud Cathedral forward Jaeger Wood

13:56: Time left in the third period when St. Cloud Cathedral leading scoring John Hirschfeld