29-05-2025
Wildcats stave off elimination with 6-2 win at Memorial Cup
Continued great goaltending and the return of their high-powered offence proved to be the critical cogs for the Moncton Wildcats Wednesday as they downed the Rimouski Oceanic 6-2 in the final preliminary round game of the 2025 Memorial Cup.
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Now, the Cats, 1-2, face the 2-1 London Knights in Friday's semifinal contest, with both teams looking for a berth in Sunday's national final against the 3-0 Medicine Hat Tigers.
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Wednesday, with their remarkable record-breaking season on the line, Julius Sumpf, Juraj Pekarcik, Gabe Smith, with a pair, Etienne Morin and Alex Mercier connected for the Wildcats, who scored just three times in a pair of losses to open the tournament. Mael St. Denis and Mathieu Cataford replied for the Oceanic, who were eliminated with an 0-3 record.
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Backstopping the win in another sensational outing was Moncton goalie Mathis Rousseau, the team's undisputed best player after three games, who made 32 saves, including 15 in the opening frame to keep Moncton in it early.
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'Just happy to win,' said Smith after the game on TSN. 'This group has a lot of resilience. I think we showed that. It was not our best first period but we bounced back and we got the win. Lots of positives.'
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Moncton, which snapped a six-game losing streak at the Memorial Cup dating back to May 2006, will look to avenge a Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Knights in Friday's prime time showdown with London.
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It was another chapter in an emotional week for the Cats. On Monday, Moncton GM Taylor MacDougall's father-in-law died suddenly while in the city for the tournament. The team, and the hockey world, offered support to MacDougall and 48 hours after learning that news, the squad was back on the ice.
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However, it was the Oceanic that bolted out of the gate and fired six of the first seven shots on goal but Rousseau, as he had done all tournament, was outstanding.
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That allowed some wiggle room for the Cats, who took a 1-0 lead when Pekarcik fired a pass across the slot from deep in Rimouski territory that perfectly hit Sumpf in stride for the opening tally at 7:39.
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But the Oceanic did not waver, tying it at 1-1 on a St. Denis rebound at 13:27. At that point, the home team dominated with a 15-3 edge on the shot clock.
