The Ripley Wolves have advanced to the WOAA Senior Hockey AA Championship Final following a thrilling 3-2 win in Overtime over the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks.
The Winterhawks had come back from 3-0 down to tie the series, and although they forced an extra frame in Game 7, they ultimately fell to a goal from Cody Britton around 10 minutes into the extra period.
When asked what his team learned from the experience of going from up 3-0 to being one goal away from elimination, Wolves Head Coach Jeff Alcombrack said "We've learned how to play in close games, and deal with the adversity, and sticking together. Our team showed a lot of character (in Game 7), and hopefully that's something we can keep going with."
Awaiting the Wolves in the Championship Final is the Tavistock Royals, who were the underdogs entering their own semi-final series against the defending champion (and this year's regular season champion) Seaforth Centenaires, but knocked them out in six games, five of those being one-goal games.
"The league was really close this season 1-8, but I'm pretty sure most people in the league thought Seaforth was going to be in the final. Tavistock, when they played Seaforth, all the games were tight, so they must be running a good system and playing good defensively, because they're keeping the games low-scoring." said Alcombrack.
Ripley has never won an "AA" Championship or a Grand Championship in WOAA Senior Hockey, although they did win an "A" Championship in 2015. The Ripley Roosters were WOAA Grand Champions in both 1984 and 1982. The Tavistock Royals last won a "AA" Championship in 2008.
Game 1 of the WOAA Senior Hockey AA Championship Final is scheduled for Satruday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. in Ripley.