Ripley Wolves take commanding 3-0 lead in series against Seaforth

The Ripley Wolves have taken a commanding 3-0 lead in their series against the Huron East Centenaires in WOAA senior hockey.

Game 1 saw Ripley travel to Seaforth, Friday night, and come home with a 3-0 win.

Scoring, were Garrett Meurs, Pat Looby and Keaton Willis, with assists to Dan Nicoloff, Jarred Colling, Cody Britton and Meurs.
Jason Hamilton notched the shut-out for Ripley.

Game 2 was a tough battle, Saturday night at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine.

The Wolves spotted Huron East a 5-1 lead, but scored four goals in three-and-a-half minutes late in the second period to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was an ugly start for the Wolves, as they went down 3-0 in the first 10 minutes of the opening period. A rebound that landed on a wide open stick, an odd bounce to a Centenaire at the top of the crease, and a couple of Ripley posts made it look like it just wasn’t going to be the Wolves’ night.

Nicoloff, who was a scoring threat all night for the home team, pulled the Wolves to within two, with a goal, assisted by Gerrit Satosek and Blake Nichol. But Huron East added another before the period was out to lead, 4-1, heading into the break, driving Jason Hamilton from the Wolves net in the process to be replaced by Kurt Edwards.

Eight minutes into the second, Huron East scored what appeared to be a back-breaking fifth goal to go up 5-1 with half the game in the books. The Wolves bench was visibly dejected as the puck was dropped at centre ice.

Then, with under seven minutes left in the second and suddenly out of nowhere, the Wolves big guns went to work. Applying offensive pressure the game had yet to see, Huron East took a hooking penalty. Just 10 seconds into the powerplay, Britton found himself open at the side of the goal and made no mistake. Assists went to Willis and Ben Hughes.

Just 16 seconds later, off the rush, Britton received a pass from Brett Catto as he entered the Huron East zone. He faked a shot, and pulled the puck back just enough to buy himself time to find a streaking Hughes on the left wing, and he stuck it in the gaping cage.

It was now 5-3.

After taking a breather for a shift, which ended with a slashing penalty for the Cents, the Britton-Hughes-Catto line hopped the boards for the powerplay. Once again, it was Britton who took a beautiful feed from Hughes as they crossed the line, and he streaked past the flat-footed defenceman. Once in tight, Britton chipped a gorgeous backhand over the stunned goalie’s shoulder, making the game 5-4. The second assist went to Catto.

That was three goals in 1:19 of game play.

While the line didn't score for another 2:16, Catto tied the game at 5-5 with three minutes remaining in the second period, from Britton and Hughes.

The sudden turn of the tides carried over to the third, as the Wolves carried the vast majority of the play, though it took until the final five minutes of the game for Tyson Soers to snap a shot home from the slot, giving the Wolves a 6-5 lead they wouldn’t relinquish, and a 2-0 series lead.

Sunday, in Ripley, the Wolves downed Huron East, 4-1.

Goal-scores were Brent Walton, Nicoloff (2), and Britton. Assists went to Meurs (2), Walton (2), Nicoloff, Tyler McCarthy, and Hughes.

Ryan MacDonald got the win in the Wolves net.

The Wolves will look to close out the series when they travel to Seaforth, Friday, Feb. 15, at 8:30 p.m. If necessary, Game 5 will be played in Ripley, Sunday, Feb. 17, at 3 p.m.