The Memorial Marauders captured the Panther Classic high school hockey tournament championship on Sunday, defeating the Riverview Ravens 4-2 in the final game at Miners Forum in Glace Bay. Members of the team, not in order, Jasper Allain, Jackson Devoe, Andrew Forrest, Jackson Gerrow, Parker Gillam, Owen Giorno, Owen Gracie, Hayden Hawkins, Levi Hull, Nolan Jessome, Landen Leyte, Maxx Morrison, Nole Murray, Eric Power, Marcus Rendell, Noah Tremblett, Colby Viva, Jack Viva, Tristan Walker and Maddox Carey (affiliate player). The team's staff include Jacob Jessome (head coach), Adam Daye (assistant coach), Scott MacInnis (assistant coach and equipment manager), Will Lawless (assistant coach and trainer), Kevin Stairs (goaltender coach), Bernice Osmond (manager) and Teddy Coleman (teacher liaison). CONTRIBUTED CONTRIBUTED
For the first time in 10 years, the Memorial Marauders are the Panther Classic champions.
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Memorial defeated the Riverview Ravens 4-2 in the high school hockey tournament’s championship game at Miners Forum in Glace Bay on Sunday.
The contest was a rematch of the championship game of the Memorial-hosted Mae Kibyuk Memorial Green and Gold Hockey Tournament, which saw the Ravens beat the Marauders 3-2 at Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney last month.
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To make the championship even more special, it was the Marauders’ third game of the day on Sunday after the club finished the round robin portion of the tournament in the morning, before playing in the semifinal and eventually the championship games in the afternoon.
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The reason the Sydney Mines-based team had to play three games in one day was because of the postponement of Panther Classic games on Friday due to weather conditions, which forced organizers to make a new schedule on Friday afternoon.
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COMEBACK WIN
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In the final, Memorial scored four unanswered goals after trailing 2-0 in the first period on their way to winning the tournament title for the first time since 2015.
Maxx Morrison, Owen Gracie, Colby Viva and Jackson Gerrow netted goals for the Marauders.
Ryan MacQueen and Cohen MacIsaac buried goals for the Ravens.
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Memorial’s Levi Hull made 33 saves and was named the team’s player of the game. Riverview’s Kayden Mollons stopped 13 of 17 shots.
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The Marauders advanced to the championship game with a 4-2 win over the Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars of Truro in the semifinal. As for the Ravens, they knocked off the host Glace Bay Panthers 2-1 in a shootout in their semifinal game.
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Memorial posted a 2-1 record in the round robin with victories over Riverview 4-2 and the Halifax West Warriors 4-3. The club’s lone loss came to the Avon View Avalanche of Windsor 5-2 on Sunday morning.
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With the championship appearance, Memorial has been to the final game of each of the first three local high school hockey tournaments this year. Along with their own, the team also played in the championship game of the Blue and White Challenge last month, losing to Glace Bay.
As for the host Glace Bay Panthers, they posted a 3-0 record in the preliminary round with victories over Sydney Academy 10-1, Strait Area Education Recreation Centre 4-0 and Cobequid Educational Centre 3-1, before their loss to Riverview in the semifinal game on Sunday.
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The annual Panther Classic will return to the ice at Miners Forum next December. The official dates for the 2026 event were not confirmed at publication time.
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The next local high school hockey tournament will be the Red Cup Showcase, Feb. 5-8, at the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre in Coxheath.
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Championship: Memorial 4, Riverview 2
Semifinal: Memorial 4, Cobequid Educational Centre 2
Semifinal: Riverview 2, Glace Bay 1 (SO)
Avon View 5, Memorial 2
Cobequid Educational Centre 5, Strait Area Education Centre 2
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Glace Bay 3, Cobequid Educational Centre 1
Riverview 4, Avon View 2
Strait Area Education Recreation Centre 5, Sydney Academy 4
Memorial 4, Halifax West 3
Cobequid Educational Centre 11, Sydney Academy 0
Halifax West 3, Avon View 2
Glace Bay 4, Strait Area Education Recreation Centre 0
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Riverview 4, Halifax West 0
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Glace Bay 10, Sydney Academy 1
Memorial 4, Riverview 2
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