Changes

Dukes add three, win three over the weekend

November may mark the week fortunes turned for the Wellington Dukes. The team welcomed three new players: goalie Jacob Brown and forwards Justin Brar and Kyle Kavc. While Brar and Kavc may have had a few days to settle in, Brown was afforded no such honeymoon.

In two games over the weekend, Brown allowed six goals—but all but one were scored while the Dukes’ opponents had a man advantage. Brown allowed just the one even-strength goal. Wellington won all three games over the weekend, scoring 19 goals along the way. Doing so enabled the Dukes to leap to fourth spot in the East Conference, as measured by winning percentage.

DUKES 8 – COBOURG 2
A combination of sloppy Cobourg defensive play and opportunistic Dukes’ forecheck enabled Wellington to mount a 4-0 lead just over halfway through the first period on Friday night at home. But a penalty. The Cougars scored on the power play. They added another before the period was done.

But in what has become a pattern, Captain Corey Jewitt set the Dukes back on the right track. On the power play, Jewitt pushed down the wing before firing a blistering shot, close range. The puck seemed to go through the Cobourg netminder. The Dukes would not let up again. Three more goals.

Ryan Schaap earned a hat trick. Ryan Castle scored his first as a Wellington Duke. Cory Jewitt scored a critical marker and added five assists.

Dario Cantini went the distance in the Dukes’ net, turning away 18 of 20 shots.

DUKES 7 – LINDSAY 4
Wellington kept on rolling in Lindsay on Saturday night. Three goals in the first period. Zander Latreille had the first two, Sacha Trudel the third. Lindsay responded early in the second with a power-play goal. But Trudel had an answer while shorthanded. Jared Mc- Neill scored his 11th of the season midway through the third. Another Lindsay power play goal. The Dukes Ethan Murray responded 13 seconds later. Yet, another Muskie power play goal. Then, Lindsay’s only even-strength goal. But seconds later, Ben Vreugdenhil scored upon the empty net, his 11th of the season. Trudel and Latreille both finished the game with a pair of goals and an assist.

Jacob Brown earned his first win in the Dukes’ net, turning away 34 shots.

DUKES 4 – AURORA 2
This was a bit of a revenge game. The Dukes shouldn’t have lost in Aurora a week earlier. They had their butts gifted to them by the Tigers in a 6-3 defeat. Through two periods, the game was a back-and-forth affair. The Dukes scored a pair while even strength—the Tigers scored two power play goals. (There might be a lesson here.)

But midway through the third, Riley Noble rifled a shot past the Aurora netminder, giving the Dukes the lead. Captain Jewitt added an empty net goal to seal the win.

Jacob Brown, once again, went the distance in the Dukes’ net, stopping 30 shots.

UP NEXT: HALIBURTON, BUFFALO AND ST. MIKES
The Dukes head north on Thursday to visit the Haliburton Huskies in Minden. It will be the first meeting between these teams this season. Haliburton is in second place in the East Conference, behind only Trenton. The Huskies have a potent power play, scoring on a third of the manadvantage chances. The Dukes, meanwhile, have hobbled their positive strides with a bucket-load of penalties in recent games.

On Friday, the Dukes will welcome Buffalo to Wellington for the first time since the Junior Sabres rejoined the OJHL in 2022. Buffalo is currently in the fifth spot in the West Conference with 27 points in 22 games. The Junior Sabres have won three of their last five games.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, Wellington head to Bathurst and St. Clair in Toronto to take on the St. Michael’s Buzzers. The Dukes edged St. Mikes 5-4 last month. The Buzzers have lost three of their previous five games.