Ripley Wolves down to the wire in senior “AA” finals against Clinton

The Ripley Wolves are down to the wire as they head into Game 5, in the WOAA senior “AA” finals against the Radars, Friday night in Clinton.

The Wolves came within a game of tying the series, after a huge 7-2 win in Game 3, Friday night in Clinton.

Though they trailed by a goal early, the Wolves roared back with six unanswered goals through the middle of the third period, putting the game out of reach on the back of Ben Hughes, who had an incredible six points on the night.

Hughes led the way with three goals and three assists, while Brett Catto added two goals and two assists. Single goals were scored by Brent Walton and Garrett Meurs.

Other assists went to Cody Britton (3), Blake Nichol (2), Tyler McCarthy, Gerrit Satosek, and Meurs.

Ryan MacDonald got the win in the Wolves net.

Sunday afternoon, in front of a capacity crowd at the Ripley Arena, the Wolves played hard but took a 5-2 loss, and now trail Clinton, three games to one.

After an hour’s delay due to a regional power outage, Clinton scored two in each of the first two periods of this hard-hitting affair.

Ripley made some adjustments that paid off quickly in the third, scoring just 14 seconds in, and adding another a couple of minutes later to give the home crowd life.

But a breakaway goal put Clinton up by three with 13 left in the third, and that’s how it finished.

Ripley’s goals were scored by Dan Nicoloff from Ben Hughes; and Patrick Looby, shorthanded and unassisted.

Ryan MacDonald played the first 40 minutes in Ripley’s net and was excellent, but, in an attempt to spark the team entering the third, Jason Hamilton came into the net and was strong as well.

Ripley will look to stave off elimination Friday at 8:30 p.m. in Clinton.

Game 6, if necessary, will be Saturday at 3 p.m. in Ripley, while Game 7, if necessary, will be Sunday, in Clinton, at 4 p.m.