Turning point?

Dukes rack up three wins before being edged by Trenton

The Dukes managed to stabilize the ship after a rocky couple of weeks. It began in Cobourg with a shutout win against the Toronto Patriots as part of the Governor’s Showcase. That win ended a four-game losing skid. Then on Wednesday, the Dukes surprised the powerhouse Toronto Junior Canadiens and squeezed out a 2-1 victory in a hard-fought defensive battle. Matt Dunsmoor was sensational in this pivotal win.

It set up Friday’s game. Cobourg in Wellington. Dukes captain Emmett Pierce set the pace early, scoring his first of two just over a minute into the game. Brodie McDougall added another in the first, and the Dukes did not look back. Pierce finished the game with three points—an assist along with his two goals. Ethan Morrow earned the win in the Dukes’ net.

Sunday marked the return of the Trenton Golden Hawks to Wellington. Trenton is currently ranked as the top team in the nation. But the Hawks lost three games coming into this match on Sunday. And the previous match with the Dukes had been a closely fought affair.

Trenton arrived in Wellington with something to prove.

Literally anywhere inside the blueline, Captain Emmett Pierce is a threat to score.

The Golden Hawks got on the board first with a power play goal early in the first. But Brodie McDougall responded for the Dukes shortly after. Same pattern in the second. Trenton went up a goal. This time it was new arrival David Campbell who tied the game for the Dukes. But two more goals from the Golden Hawks in the second period seemed to put some distance between them and the Dukes.

Early in the third, however, a brutal checking-from-behind infraction resulted in the Dukes getting a two-man advantage for about 90 seconds. The Dukes failed to capitalize.

Yet, a little later in the period Brodie McDougall deftly redirected a Graham Dickerson’s low point shot up and over the Trenton netminder.

The Dukes pressed but could not come up with the equalizer. Instead, a Trenton forward pushed past the Wellington defence and buried an empty-net goal, sealing the 5-3 win for the Golden Hawks.

ADDITIONS AND SUBTRACTION
David Campbell grew up in Columbus, Ohio, but developed his game in northern Michigan and Ontario—AAA in the Soo and North Bay, Junior in Blind River and Powassan. The nineteen- year-old forward was called up for 27 games to the OHL’s North Bay Battalion in the Covid-shortened 2019-20 season. Campbell generated 30 points in 20 games with Blind River that season.

Graham Dickerson comes to Wellington via the Kitchener Rangers, where he played 83 games over the past two seasons. Characterized as a hard-working two-way forward, the 20-year-old Port Hope native settled into Wellington nicely— earning an assist in Sunday’s game against Trenton.

Making room for Campbell, Dickerson, and the return of Brodie McDougall, the Dukes traded Payton Shaly, Jonah Cochrane and Cam Kosurko to the Haliburton County Huskies.

UP NEXT: ST. MICHAELS, NORTH YORK AND TORONTO JUNIOR CANADIENS
A full schedule this week as the Dukes head to St. Clair and Bathurst on Thursday to face the St. Michael’s Buzzers. St. Mikes hasn’t lost a game since mid-October—winning six games straight, including a pair of OT wins. That list includes downing the Golden Hawks last week.

On Friday, the Dukes host the North York Rangers. Wellington suffered their toughest loss so far this season in North York on October 13, starting the team’s four-game skid. The Dukes will be looking for a vastly different outcome in front of their hometown fans on Friday.

The Dukes will travel to Downsview on Sunday to face the Toronto Junior Canadiens. It will be the second pairing for these two teams in just over a week. Wellington bested Toronto 2-1 in that previous match. The Junior Canadiens are perched in the second spot in the South Division.