Momentum

Dukes search for consistency, buffeted by the mental swings of the game

With a pair of lopsided wins on the weekend, the Dukes moved into a tie for second place in the East Division.

TORONTO JCS 4 – DUKES 1
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, however. Wellington laid an egg at home last Thursday. The Toronto Junior Canadiens were visiting on the back of a three-game winning streak. Toronto scored in each of the first two periods before Jacob Vreugdenhil responded for the Dukes in the third. The Junior Canadiens scored two more—including an empty-net marker to seal the road win. Toronto’s Matthew Wilde factored in all the JCs goals— assisting two and scoring a pair. The Dukes managed just 18 shots on net in this rare Thursday encounter.

DUKES 8 – TORONTO PATRIOTS 0
On Saturday the Dukes visited the other Toronto team—the Patriots in Etobicoke. This game was never in doubt. Wellington came out hard and fast. Mason Reeves burying the first of four Dukes’ goals in the first period— including two on the power play. Three more in the second. The Patriots had no response. Jaxen Boyer tallied the Dukes’ eighth unanswered goal in the third, rounding out the pummelling.

It was Carter Tahk’s debut in the Dukes net—having recently been acquired from Cobourg to fill in for the injured Matt Dunsmoor. Tahk earned the shutout, turning away 30 shots.

DUKES 7 – LINDSAY 4
Momentum is a peculiar force. Especially so in sports. With the momentum clearly on Wellington’s side for two periods on Sunday afternoon, the Dukes could do nothing wrong, the Muskies could do nothing right. It was pros against amateurs. That is, until the momentum swung the other way.

From a six-goal lead early in the third—the Dukes fumbled through towards the finish giving up three goals to the suddenly-unstoppable Muskies. The outcome of the game was never in doubt, but it was a dose of humility for a team that had notched 14 unanswered goals in five previous periods.

Yet there can be no question that the Dukes worked for this victory. Lindsay had beaten them in three of four previous meetings. So Wellington set to the task on Sunday afternoon, digging in the corners, battling ferociously for the puck. Eventually, the puck came out to the blue paint in front of the Muskie net. Will Mitchell was there to flip it over the netminder.

Nearer the end of the first, the Dukes won the faceoff in the Muskies zone. Set play. Back to the point. The shot misses the net, but bounces out in front. David Campbell was on the spot to bury it.

Early in the second and on the power play, Campbell slickly navigated the neutral zone and found a lane into the Lindsay zone. Slid a pass to Emmett Pierce,s stick. Pierce chose his target. Fired. The Dukes had a three-goal lead.

By this time the Dukes were dominating the game, winning every battle along the wall and behind the net. Seconds after Pierce’s goal, Jonathan Balah found Corbin Roach in the midslot with room. Shot. Rebound. Barret Joynt slid home the rebound. The rout was on.

Later in the period, Pierce won the puck along the wall in the Lindsay zone. Like a surgeon threading a suture on a supermodel—the Dukes’ captain snaked his way through the Muskie defence until he was one on one with the netminder. Shot. Ballard hammered home the rebound.

A quick-study—Ethan Quick mimicked his captain a moment later. Working off the wall, navigating traffic. Shot. Mitchell was there for the rebound.

A momentary lapse late in the period allowed the Muskies to get a puck behind Ethan Morrow and on the board.

But the third continued the pattern established in the previous two frames. More hard work by the Dukes created another opportunity for Pierce. Shot. Not a shot at all. Rather it was a hard pass to defenceman Alex Case, who had snuck in from the blueline and was perched on the goal mouth edge. Redirect. Artful goal.

The Dukes had a 7-1 lead. Time to pack up and go home.

The Muskies had other ideas. In a matter of minutes, momentum had swung 180 degrees. The Dukes were on their heels and the Lindsay was swarming. Morrow managed to stop several close-in shots—squeezing his pads to bar a pair of back-to-back five-hole attempts. His crossbar stopped another.

Past the mid-point of the third period, however, Lindsay beat Morrow on the power play. A moment later the suddenly unstoppable Muskie forward skated around the Dukes’ defence and deposited the puck in the Wellington net.

Yet another just a few moments later. The only fortunate thing was that there was less than a minute left in the game and the Muskies were still three goals behind.

But it surely sent the Lindsay team home in a better frame of mind than it would have done ten minutes earlier.

UP NEXT: CALEDON, HALIBURTON COUNTY AND TRENTON
No home games this weekend for the Dukes. Instead, they head out to Bramalea to face the Caledon Admirals—formerly the Brampton Admirals on Thursday. In any rink, the Admirals seem to struggle. With just two wins in four games, Caledon has scored the fewest goals in the OJHL so far and consequently possesses the worst record.

Yet, they defeated Lindsay in November. It would be a mistake to count these two points before putting in the work.

On Saturday the Dukes head to cottage country to face the Haliburton County Huskies for the fourth meeting between these two teams. The Dukes have won two of these.

On Sunday the Dukes head across the Bay of Quinte to face the Golden Hawks. Trenton continues to own the best record in the league with 40 points and an .800 winning percentage. But Wellington defeated the Golden Hawks in their last match in mid-November, 6-3 in Trenton. They will be looking to reapply that formula on Sunday.

Barret Joynt battles for position in front of the Lindsay net on Sunday.