Austin Kanner scored with 1:03 left in the game to lift Centennial to a 2-1 lead and an eventual 4-1 win over defending champion Grand Rapids Friday at the Heritage Sports Center in Duluth. After peppering Rapids Goalie Zach Stejskal  with 40 shots, the Cougars were finally able to get one past the 2014 YHH Goalie of the Year after a huge scrum in front of the net.

The Cougars would add two empty net goals to win 4-1.

After a scoreless first period, the two teams traded power play goals in the second period. First, Joey Linders back handed home a shot while falling on his back to give Centennial the lead. But less than a minute later, Rapids answered when Michael Heitkamp fired a top shelf laser past a screened Travis Allen to tie it.

In the third with the score tied, Grand Rapids had an apparent game tying goal disallowed. Gavin Hain, while offside barreled over a linesman who had just ruled him to be in the zone on a delayed offside. Three seconds later with the linesman on his back, the ThunderHawks scored. The linesman got up and promptly overruled the goal and the score remained tied until Kanner scored to win it.