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ST. PAUL — Reigning Class A state champion Mahtomedi is one step closer to defending its title as the Zephyrs took a 5-2 victory over Orono on Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center.

The No. 4-seeded Zephyrs downed the No. 5-seeded Spartans to advance to the Class A semifinals where they will face No. 1-seeded Hermantown at 1 p.m. Friday in St. Paul.

Mahtomedi scored a power-play goal to open scoring midway through the first period. Winston Wright won a faceoff and got the puck over to senior Max Strecker, who scored from the top of the circle. Orono responded a few minutes later during a brief 5-on-3 opportunity as defender Joey Mugaas showed patience with the puck and waited to shoot until a perfect screen was set by one of his teammates.

Orono then took its first lead of the night in the third period of play as a shot from Mugaas went rocketing toward Mahtomedi goaltender Charlie Brandt and was redirected off the stick of Brooks Fegers and into the back of the net — a goal that needed review. The Zephyrs then found a response goal of their own to tie things back up at 2-2 as Jake Hodd-Chlebeck scored on a sharp angle shot from almost below the goal line.

Mahtomedi retook the lead with just over five minutes remaining in regulation as forward Gage Wegleitner won a faceoff and then quickly shot five-hole through goaltender Peyton Anderson. Sam Harris and Hodd-Chlebeck both scored empty-net goals in the final minutes of the contest to further secure the victory for the Zephyrs. Netminder Charlie Brandt made 26 saves for Mahtomedi in the win.

Jason Wachter / The Rink Live

Top-seeded Hermantown jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead over unseeded Alexandria in Wednesday's Class A state quarterfinal game with a goal by Josh Kaupinnen.

However, three late second-period goals made the difference for Hermantown in a 6-0 win over Alexandria.

Hermantown had a 43-15 shot on goal advantage in the game and held Alexandria to two shots on goal in the second period.

Dane Callaway stopped all 15 shots he faced for Hermantown.

Jason Wachter / The Rink Live

Nick Hansen, the St. Cloud Cathedral goalie, had another standout performance in his team's 5-1 win over Northfield in a quarterfinal matchup.

Hansen improved to 17-0-1 in net this season while stopping 19 of 20 Northfield shots. John Hirschfeld gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead just 18 seconds into the game and Cathedral opened the game up in the last two periods.

Hirschfeld finished with four points on the strength of three assists for Cathedral and Griffin Sturm added three assists.

The Crusaders (24-4-1) move on to play Warroad in the state semifinals at 11 a.m. Friday.

Jason Wachter / The Rink Live

Warroad, the No. 2 seed in Class A, only led unseeded New Ulm 1-0 after the opening 17 minutes of their quarterfinal. Then the floodgates opened.

Five goals in the second period, including two from Mr. Hockey finalist and North Dakota commit Carson Pilgrim, put the Warriors into the lead for good in an 8-1 win Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Murray Marvin-Cordes had a hat trick and two assists for Warroad, and the Warriors' top line of Marvin-Cordes, Pilgrim and Taven James combined for 10 points. Dominic Anthony's 'Michigan' goal in the second period was the highlight for Warroad.