The Ripley Wolves will host Game 1 of the WOAA Senior 'AA' championship Saturday night at 8 p.m. against Clinton.
The Radars finished at the top of the league this season with a 20-1-0-1 record and got by Tavistock and Saugeen Shores in the earlier playoff rounds. Ripley finished with a record of 19-2-0-1 and beat Huron East and Durham through the first two rounds.
Both teams are loaded with skill and experience and took advantage of last year's Sutherland Cup winners in the GOJHL.
Former Listowel Cyclones Keaton Willis and Blake Nichol joined the team this season following Nick Seiler who also spent his junior career with Listowel in 07-08 and 08-09.
The Wolves also boast a healthy dose of former Kincardine Bulldogs. Gerrit Satosek captained the Junior C team to a league championship in 2015-2016. Other former Bulldogs include Robert White, Alex MacLeod, Jeff Alcombrack, Cody Britton and Brett Catto. And Ripley's own Garrett Meurs had a 25 goal season for the Wolves.
But while Ripley bolsters some former winners, the Radars have a few of their own.
Cullen Mercer was a machine in the Cyclones' playoff run last season (he had 34 points in 25 playoff games) and is now with the 3-time defending champion Radars. His skill a compliment to the likes of captain and Clinton native Kurtis Bartliff and Tyler Doig, who both have pro and/or NCAA experience.
Bartliff had 24 goals and teammate Stephen Sanza had 23.
The teams met once in the regular season, on October 27th and Clinton won that game 4-2.
Schedule: Game 1 – Saturday, March 23 in Ripley at 8 p.m. Game 2 – Sunday, March 24 in Clinton at 7 p.m. Game 3 – Friday, March 29 in Clinton at 8:30 p.m. Game 4 – Sunday, March 31 in Ripley at 3 p.m. *Game 5 – Friday, April 5 in Clinton at 8:30 p.m. *Game 6 – Saturday, April 6 in Ripley at 3 p.m. *Game 7 – Sunday, April 7, in Clinton at 4 p.m. *if necessary
