TRENTON — One of just two high school ice hockey games on the docket around the state of Michigan on Monday featured two local teams squaring off for the second time in less than three weeks.
Back on the night before Thanksgiving, Riverview-Cabrini United walked away with a 7-5 victory while subsequently handing Downriver Unified a fourth straight loss to open the season. Unified since then has turned things around, winning three of their last five games heading into a rematch with RCU on Monday at Kennedy Arena in Trenton.
Contrary to the first go-round, DU was able to get off to a fast start but were unable to hold onto it late as Riverview-Cabrini put together a strong surge late in the third to pull off a stunning win by the same 7-5 final score.
No strangers to playing in high-scoring games, Riverview-Cabrini came in seeing on average a little more than a dozen combined goals scored through their first nine games of the season. Although not as frenetic, Downriver through the same number of games to open the winter has seen on average close to nine total goals.
DU began Monday’s contest with arguably their best start to any game this season, scoring the game’s first three goals on just 14 shots. That ended up being one of three different times that the visitors held a three-goal lead in the game.
RCU did manage to get off the schneid with 95 seconds to go in the first period to make it a 3-1 game going into the first intermission.
The second stanza was one that saw nearly doubled the number of penalties (7) as there were goals. On the scoring front, the two teams traded the four scores back and forth with both of Downriver’s scores coming short-handed.
The last goal of that busy second period was Markham’s second of the game coming with just over seven minutes to go before the intermission. That goal ultimately ended up kick-starting a string of five unanswered goals for Riverview-Cabrini to wrap up the night.
What was a rather quiet third period quickly ramped up in the final few minutes of regulation. It came in the form of three goals in the span of exactly one minute for RCU, flipping what was a two-goal deficit to taking their first lead of the night at 6-5 with 3:24 to go in the game.
Markham was responsible for all three of those goals during that time to cap off a five-goal night. His linemate and classmate Trevor Turkowski potted one more with under a minute to go, giving him two on the evening to go along with three assists.
It’s appropriate that Riverview-Cabrini sees Markham and Turkowski account for all of their goals in the win on Monday. The prolific duo have now scored 55 of the team’s 65 total goals this season.
In fact, entering play around the state on Monday, Markham and Turkowski ranked first and second among all skaters in terms of points with 49 and 40, respectively. The former following his effort in Monday’s comeback win owns a state-best 35 goals on the season, while Turkowski’s 20 puts him third in that category statewide.
In addition to the performances from both Markham and Turkowski, RCU got a pair of assists from Noah Worthy and one from Nick Kieltyka.
This season marks the fifth straight in which Riverview and Allen Park Cabrini have joined forces to field a varsity hockey program. The seven wins through the first 10 games marks their best start to any season during that time.
Senior Henry Vena (9) scored a hat trick of goals for Downriver Unified in their tough 7-5 road loss vs Riverview-Cabrini on Dec 15, 2025. (ALEXANDER MULLER — MediaNews Group)
Despite the tough loss, Downriver showed off a lot of their depth with seven different players recording at least one point by night’s end. The best of the bunch was Henry Vena, whose hat trick of goals highlighted what was a four-point night.
DU elsewhere got single goals each from Garrett Warden and Zack Perkins. Warden and Jackson Moul each turned into two-point performances with the latter collecting a pair of assists. A trio of others for the visitors — Brant Gadberry, Nico Harmon, and Cameron Cousino — each picked up one assist.
UP NEXT
Riverview-Cabrini (7-3) will take the ice again on Friday, Dec 19 when they have another rematch with Metro League foe Grosse Ile back at Kennedy. It’ll be a revenge opportunity for RCU after falling hard by a final of 9-1 vs the Red Devils back on Nov 18.
Downriver meanwhile will have a little more than a week off before they, too, return to Kennedy for a date with local foe Brownstown Woodhaven on Dec 23.
Photo gallery of Downriver Unified vs Riverview-Cabrini United in ice hockey action