The Wingham Ironmen are once again through to the Western Junior C playoff final after a 6 game series with Kincardine. Wingham took game six by a 3-2 score for a 4-2 series victory over the Bulldogs.
It was another tight affair, with Kincardine's aggressive defense clashing with the Ironmen's top two lines. Mitch Campbell was hot early, stopping 17 shots in the opening frame alone.
Eventually the deadlock would be broken, a weak point shot was kicked out by Campbell with Matt McCracken burying the rebound for a 1-0 Wingham lead.
The advantage would be short lived for the visitors. Off a Carter Stewart penalty the Bulldogs power-play got to work. A hard wrist shot from Patrick Wiejak would beat Wingham's Ben Nelson upstairs to even the score into the second.
Both teams brought the same fighting spirit into the next period, the result was much of the same. Kincardine would take the lead however with Chad Simpson re-directing a Luke Inglis point shot upstairs, once again on the powerplay.
Trailing for the first time, Wingham didn't need much time to get even. Around 2 minutes later Alex Kuntz would put a shot over the pad of Campbell for another tie score heading into intermission.
With the start to the third feeling more like a sudden death overtime than a regular period, the Ironmen's second line was the difference. Keifer MacInnes made a nice deke from the corner before centering the puck for line-mate Holdyn Lansink. The Erie Otters draft pick made no mistake, roofing the game winning goal.
UPDATE: Wingham will now play the Walkerton Hawks, which is a rematch of the final from last season. Game 1 will take place at 6pm in Wingham on Sunday. Game 2 will be played on Friday in Walkerton at 7:20pm. The Hawks are coming off of a five-game series win over Hanover.
