With Nickel District Minor Hockey League play only just beginning, some local teams are taking advantage of competitive parities to fine-tune their game with some well-matched exhibition outings in anticipation of upcoming tournament action.

The Sudbury U12 A Wolves eked out a 4-3 win over the Copper Cliff U11 AA Reds Sunday morning at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex in a contest that teeter-tottered back and forth.

Though the Reds opened the scoring thanks to a snipe from speedster Miller Benoit, it would be the Wolves who held the advantage after period one, up 2-1 on goals from Bennett Trebb and Dax Cunningham.

The teams traded tallied in the middle stanza as Owen Kunto jammed home a rebound to put Sudbury up 3-1 and Max Williamson getting that one back some thirty seconds later.

Special teams loomed large in the final frame as Cunningham netted his second of the game with the Wolves on the power play, with Krish Koka drawing the only assist. With under a minute to play, Copper Cliff made things interesting as Ashton Pawlowski found the back of the net, his team playing five on four.

While the Wolves get set for Silver Stick Tournament play on a local level in about one month's time, the Copper Cliff crew get set to head south on November 5th to 8th, attending the Raiders Fall Classic in Ajax that weekend.