The Yarmouth Mariners are off to the quarterfinals at the 2023 Centennial Cup in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba after a gutsy 3-2 victory over the LHJQ champion Terrebonne Cobras on Wednesday.
The Mariners were strong out of the gate, as Reilly Mayne scored his team-leading third goal of the tournament just 17 seconds into the game. Yarmouth would double their lead at 13:34 of the 1st period as Patrick Hurley collected his first goal of the Centennial Cup. Terrebonne would strike back before the end of the period, however, cutting Yarmouth’s lead to 2-1 after 20 minutes where the Mariners held a 15-14 shot advantage. Terrebonne outshot Yarmouth 9-4 in the 2nd period, but neither team scored, setting up an important 3rd period for Yarmouth’s season.
Terrebonne evened the game 2-2 at 3:07 of the 3rd period with a powerplay goal, putting pressure on the Mariners who needed a regulation win to advance out of the round-robin stage. At 10:59 of the 3rd period, Nathan Kelly scored the eventual game-winner as Yarmouth defeated Terrebonne 3-2. Keegan Warren, making his second start of the tournament, made 28 saves for the win.
Yarmouth will now face the host Portage Terriers on Friday at 9:30 p.m. AT. The Mariners finished the round robin with a record of 1-2-1, while the Terriers went 3-1-0.