Members of the Riverview Ravens celebrate after winning the School Sport Nova Scotia Highland Region Division 1 hockey championship with a 7-4 victory over the Glace Bay Panthers at Miners Forum in Glace Bay on Thursday. From left, Ayden Ball, Carter MacDonald, Lucas Phillippo and Ty MacDonald. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy Fraser

The Riverview Ravens can once again call themselves the School Sport Nova Scotia Highland Region Division 1 hockey champions.

Riverview defeated the Glace Bay Panthers 7-4 in Game 2 of the best-of-three series in front of an estimated crowd of 400 people at Miners Forum in Glace Bay on Thursday.

The Ravens sweep the series 2-0 and advance to the provincial championship next month in Northumberland Region.

It’s Riverview’s second Division 1 hockey championship in the last three years after the Panthers knocked off the Ravens to win the title in 2024. Riverview won the league championship in 2023.

Ty MacDonald and Matthew Burke each scored twice while Owen Buckley, Lucas Phillippo and Rory Mills added single markers for the Ravens.

Kyle Nearing had a pair of goals while Cohen McNeil and Morgan Neville also chipped in with goals for the Panthers.

Riverview’s Kayden Mollons made 22 saves. Glace Bay’s Logan Reddick-McGuire stopped six of nine shots before being replaced by Brandon MacNeil, who turned aside 16 of 20 shots in his 33 minutes of relief.

Kyle Nearing of the Glace Bay Panthers, left, attempts to jam the puck through the left pad of Riverview Ravens goaltender Kayden Mollons during School Sport Nova Scotia Highland Region Division 1 hockey championship action at Miners Forum in Glace Bay on Thursday. Riverview won the game 7-4. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy Fraser

The Ravens scored three times in just over three minutes in the first period with Buckley, Phillippo and Burke finding the back of the net.

MacDonald added to the lead in the second period with a power play marker before Neville cut the lead to three for the Panthers. MacDonald would again score on the power play to make the score 5-1, but McNeil responded before the end of the middle frame to again pull Glace Bay to three.

Nearing made the score 5-3 early in the third period before Mills fired one past MacNeil. The Panthers continued to press with Nearing notching his second of the game before Burke put the contest out of reach with his second of the contest with 1:31 left in regulation time.

Matthew Burke of the Riverview Ravens, left, gets tripped up by Kolby Leforte of the Glace Bay Panthers during School Sport Nova Scotia Highland Region Division 1 hockey championship action at Miners Forum in Glace Bay on Thursday. Riverview won the game 7-4. JEREMY FRASER/CAPE BRETON POST Jeremy Fraser

Riverview’s journey to the championship didn’t come as easy as one may think. The team had to win three series to claim the title.

The Ravens never lost a game in the playoffs, eliminating the Sydney Academy Wildcats in two games in the quarterfinal and the Memorial Marauders in two games in the league semifinal before playing the Panthers.

Glace Bay went directly to the championship series after sweeping the Wildcats in the opening round.

The team went more than two weeks without playing a game following the Red Cup Showcase in early February before hitting the ice on Tuesday for Game 1 of the final series. The Panthers lost that game 5-4 in double overtime in Coxheath.

While Ravens will go directly to the provincial championship, the Panthers season isn’t over yet. The team will play a qualifying game against a club from either the Northumberland or Capital regions with the winner moving on to the provincial tournament.

The date, location and opponent for the Panthers was not confirmed at publication time.

As for playoff player statistics, they weren’t accurately updated at press time.