North notes: Blaine, Centennial square off on ice

Another big boys' hockey game between Blaine and Centennial is scheduled this week, pitting coaching cousins Dave Aus of Blaine and Erik Aus of Centennial against one other once again.

The teams play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, with Blaine (12-1) heading east to neighboring Circle Pines and Centennial (9-1-1). Both entered the week 6-0 in the Northwest Suburban Conference, though Blaine is also scheduled to play Maple Grove (10-1-2) on Thursday.

"For our kids, this is their biggest rival," Erik said. "It's the backyard battle. Both teams are playing well right now, so it should be a great game."

Dave's Bengals have reached the Class 2A state tournament in each of the past three seasons. Erik's Cougars have not returned since winning the 2004 championship. Saturday's game will give one team a leg up in the conference title chase.

A bigger game between the schools likely awaits, as both are in Section 5. Blaine crushed Centennial 6-1 in the section title game last season, the first playoff meeting of the Aus cousins.

Pete Aus (Dave's father) and his brother Whitey (Erik's father) were the first pair of opposing hockey coaches in the Aus family. Whitey was a fixture at St. Olaf from 1977 to 1997 while Pete became Bethel's coach in 1992. Whitey's teams won four of the seven games played against Pete's teams.

Since joining the North Suburban Conference in 2005-06, Benilde-St. Margaret's is 44-0-1 in girls' hockey. The lone tie came against Irondale during the 2006-07 season.

Irondale (11-4-1) gets its latest chance to take down the vaunted Red Knights on Friday at Benidle-St. Margaret's. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

The Red Knights (8-5-2) come into Friday's game with a full week off. Irondale, meanwhile, played Blake (14-1) on Tuesday after this edition went to press.

Irondale forwards Meghan Lorence (31 goals) and Gia McDonald (19) remain one of the top scoring tandems in the state. Another duo, Lindsey Brown and Gillian McDonald, have split time in net. Both have started eight games.