Centennial at Blaine
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 11

Traditional Class 2A, Section 5 rivals go at it this Thursday, as No. 20 Centennial (2-1-0) visits No. 13 Blaine (2-2-0). The Cougars have drawn the ire of the Bengals faithful the past two years, advancing to the state tournament over higher-seeded Blaine teams. But this year, the Cougars are favored because of steep graduatlon losses for the Bengals.

Centennial twice won one-goal games against other Section 5 teams last week (4-3 in overtime at Osseo and 2-1 over Anoka), closer results than anticipated. The Cougars generated 75 shots on goal in the two games but were largely held off the scoreboard. No player has more than one goal or two points this season, although Centennial has potential firepower with Connor Lovick (1-0-1) and Tyler Nyman (1-1-2).

Blaine has already played in two overtime games, beating Moorhead on Austin Johnson’s goal with six seconds remaining in the extra session and losing to Section 5 rival Maple Grove. The few Bengals' veterans remaining have led the way, as Luke Notermann (4-3-7), Riley Tufte (3-3-6), Jesse Slawson (2-4-6) and Easton Brodzinski (3-2-5) have combined for 12 of the team’s 15 goals.