The Ripley Wolves won and lost on the opening weekend of the 2016/17 season, defeating Huron East 3-2 Friday night and falling 4-1 to the resurrected Elora Rocks.
The Wolves used two quick goals to set the pace on Friday night, with Tyler Soehner, the Wolves newest defenceman who moved to the area last year after having played three seasons with the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Professional Hockey League, opening the scoring two minutes into the game. Assists went to Devin Kemp and Blair Pollock.
Less than a minute later, Brett Catto scored on the powerplay, from Cody Britton and Drew Davidson to take a 2-0 lead.
Mitch Campbell – who stopped an astounding 49 shots in the game – started in the Wolves net and gave up one late in the first, but the Wolves restored the two-goal midway through the second when Britton scored from Catto and Pollock.
Huron East, which plays out of Seaforth, pulled to within one with a powerplay marker midway through the third, but the Wolves defence finished the game strong and preserved the win.
The scoring recap for the 4-1 loss in Elora on Saturday is unavailable.
The Wolves play another two games this weekend, when they host Shelburne on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. They’ll pay a return visit to Seaforth on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. start.