Wolves and 'Cats series tied at two games apiece

The Ripley Wolves continue to win on home ice, but struggle at the away games. Hence, they remain tied at two games apiece in their WOAA Senior “AA” men's semi-final series against the Durham Thundercats.

Saturday night in Durham, the Wolves couldn’t hold a two-goal lead and lost Game 3 by a 3-2 score.

The Wolves jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first on goals from Brett Catto and Tyson Soers. Assists went to Cody Britton, Gerrit Satosek and Dylan Sayle.

That was it for Ripley's offence, though, as Durham chipped away with a goal in the second and one midway through the third on Wolves netminder Ryan MacDonald.

Then, with just 1:47 left on the clock, Durham took its first lead of the game, and held on for the 3-2 win.

Sunday night in Ripley, the Wolves roared back, with a 6-3 win, in front of a capacity crowd at the Ripley-Huron Community Centre.

Cody Britton led the way with four goals (including an empty-netter) as the Wolves battled hard to even up the series. Singles were added by Brent Walton and Ben Hughes, as the Wolves finally saw some of their many shots pour into the net in the third period, when they scored five of their six goals.

Assists went to Dan Nicoloff (2), Hughes (2), Garrett Meurs (2), Tyler McCarthy (2), Nick Seiler, Jarred Colling, Jeff Alcombrack, and goalie Ryan MacDonald, who was excellent in the win.

Game 5 is Friday, March 15, in Ripley, at 8:30 p.m. Game 6 is back in Durham, Saturday at 7 p.m., and Game 7 will be Sunday, March 17, at 6 p.m., in Ripley, if necessary.

Meanwhile, Ripley Wolves goalies Kurt Edwards, Jason Hamilton and Ryan MacDonald were handed the WOAA Senior “AA” Goals Against Average (GAA) award before Game 1, March 2, at the Ripley Arena.

The trio was the best set of goaltenders in the league this season, combining for a 2.77 GAA in 22 regular season games.