Remembering Apollo’s Nail-biting Victory Over Cathedral

It seems hard to believe but it has been 11 years since the epic battle between Apollo and Cathedral for the Section 6A hockey championship at the MAC in St. Cloud.

This weekend, the MAC will host a Section 5A semifinal between a pair of local teams in Cathedral and Sauk Rapids-Rice, with puck drop set for 1 p.m..

CROSSTOWN RIVALS

In 2015, sold-out Municipal Athletic Complex was treated to an all-time classic between the underdog Eagles and powerful Crusaders. The Eagles were coached by Pete Matanich, who is now the coach of the St. Cloud Crush, while the Cathedral was coached by Eric Johnson.

The two are friends and agreed to a joint interview in studio to preview the matchup.

Tickets for the game were sold out in advance as fans packed the seating areas and even stood three-deep along the glass in the standing areas.

APOLLO vs CATHEDRAL 2015 

Hunter Simonson got the Eagles on the board first with a goal at 2:01 of the first period, but Cathedral answered with a Logan Neu power play goal to tie the game at 7:28.

The Crusaders wouldn't hold the momentum for long, however, as Gino Lucia charted a goal just ten seconds later for a 2-1 lead that Apollo would not relinquish. Noah Bissett added a power play goal with less than a minute left in the first to make the score 3-1.

Cathedral's Leo Lommel notched a power play goal late in the second period to make it a one-goal game but Jason Omann slid a puck into the empty net with less than 30 seconds left in regulation to seal the win for the Eagles.

The Eagles went on to top Breck 1-0 in an overtime thriller in the opening round of the state tournament before falling 2-0 to Hermantown in the semifinals.

The Eagles would play one more season before joining St. Cloud Tech to become a co-op program.