The Sudbury Minor Midget "AA" Wolves would once again draw close, just not close enough to snap the impressive winning streak of the Copper Cliff Midget "AA" Redmen.

Battling for the sixth time this year in Nickel District Minor Hockey League (NDMHL) play, the Wolves managed to remain within two goals or less of the 18-0-0 Redmen for the second time, narrowing the gap to 4-3 Wednesday night at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex before settling for a 5-3 loss.

The teams were dead even after one, with Ethyn Kaboni (Copper Cliff) opening the scoring midway through the frame, and Blake Cornthwaite (Sudbury) getting it back with just over two minutes to play.

The Redmen proved extremely opportunistic in the middle stanza, scoring three times on seven shots as Cody Lauzon, Brennan Charbonneau and Noah Lagrandeur all hit the mark, the last two permitted to break in all alone on Wolves' netminder Ryan Teddy.

Trailing 4-1, the first year midgets under the guidance of head coach Chad Condratto mounted a comeback, striking twice in a 44 second span as affiliated call-up Hayden Lahaie and Jack Heaphy both managed to solve Copper Cliff puckstopper Kam McCue.

But when push came to shove, the Redmen had an answer in the form of their second short-handed tally of the contest, with Eric Bourassa providing a little extra breathing room for the league leaders.

With the bulk of their tournament action out of the way in the opening half of the 2017-2018 calendar, the Copper Cliff crew will now set their sights on the NOHA playdowns in Hearst. In preparation, the team has scheduled an exhibition game on (Wednesday) January 3rd at Carmichael Arena at 8:30 p.m. versus the Sudbury Minor Midget "AAA" Wolves.