The Ripley Wolves have a big hill to climb after a 5-2 loss on Sunday afternoon in front of another capacity home crowd.
They now trail the Clinton Radars 3-1 in the WOAA Senior AA final.
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 on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. in Clinton. Game 6, if necessary, will be Saturday at 3 p.m. in Ripley, while Game 7 will be Sunday, in Clinton, at 4 p.m.
