Character win

Dukes beat Trenton, get ready to welcome the OJHL’s leading team to Wellington

A large contingent had travelled from Quinte West and environs into the County to watch their Golden Hawks take on the Wellington Dukes. It made for a boisterous event—cheers and gasps with every near miss. Every solid check and every extinguished power play.

The Golden Hawks came out determined to muscle their way to victory. Wellington was equally set to outwork and outhustle the visitors. So it provided a rather tenuous start to the game—one in which careless mistakes resulted in goals.

Frank Vitucci (11) and Ben Woodhouse (26) buzz around Trenton’s net. Vitucci scored twice and assisted on Woodhouse’s goal. The Dukes beat Trenton 4-2.

Dukes goalie Logan Bateman stopped the puck behind his net, and swept it along the boards. A routine play. Either he didn’t see the Trenton player or he felt he could power the puck past him. In any event, the clearing attempt failed. The Golden Hawk accepted the gift. And swatted the puck into the empty net.

Similarly in the Trenton zone, just a moment later, the Golden Hawks netminder, Benjamin Allard-Robitaille, mishandled the puck, and the Dukes’ Frank Vitucci rifled it into the net.

After that the game settled down. Some scoring chances. Wellington controlled the play—except when they were battling through a penalty kill. Late in the second, the Golden Hawks regained the lead. It seemed like it might be enough in this close-checking game.

But early in the third, the Dukes’ ferocious forward Dawson Ellis drew a Trenton penalty. It was the Dukes’ first, and only, power play of the game. Zach Uens shot from the point. Keenan Eddy picked up the rebound. Shot. Bounce. Vitucci swatted it out of the air. The game was tied. His second goal of the game.

On the line’s next shift, Ben Woodhouse made an aggressive play to keep the puck in the Trenton zone. To keep the pressure on. As it happens with the Dukes’ hardworking number 26, he tends to get rewarded for his effort. The Dukes moved the puck well around the zone. To Vitucci. To Eddy, who found a seam and headed to the slot. Before he got there, however, he saw a gap and fired. Woodhouse got his stick on it. The Dukes had the lead.

There was still plenty of hockey to played. The Golden Hawks turned up the heat. And then with little more than three minutes remaining, the Dukes were penalized a fourth time. Hooking. Still, the Dukes, led by Daniel Panetta and Ellis, and backstopped by Bateman, kept the Golden Hawk shooters at bay. No sooner had the penalty expired and Trenton pulled their netminder.

It didn’t work. The Dukes broke out of their zone. A couple of chances on the empty net, before Brett Humberstone scored.

It was truly a character win for the Dukes. Andrew Rinaldi was sidelined due to an upper body issue. Bateman continued to shine—notching his fifth win in six starts as a Wellington Duke.

The Dukes benefit from several strong two-way players, effective with or without the puck. None are better than Daniel Panetta.

UP NEXT: KINGSTON, OAKVILLE AND WHITBY
After a relatively quiet spell, the Dukes play three games in four days this week. On Thursday, they head to Kingston. The Voyageurs are running out of games with which to make the playoffs. They are 10 points behind Wellington and trail the Junior Canadiens by seven points.

The Dukes have won three of the previous four meetings with the Vees this season. Kingston has won just one of its last five games.

On Friday, the Dukes welcome the league-leading Oakville Blades. The Blades are ranked number three in the nation. They are strong defensively, allowing just over two goals per game. And they lead the league in goals—averaging 4.5 goals scored per game. Oakville has a ton of depth—with a persistent offensive threat across three lines.

The going doesn’t get much easier on Sunday when the Dukes visit Whitby. The Fury and the Dukes are well matched teams—each have won a two of the four games in which they’ve faced each other. The last one—a 4-0 win by the Dukes was marred by an ugly incident late in the game. The Fury’s Ian McKinnon was suspended for three games for his part in in the fight. Humberstone was suspended for a pair of games, but left the game the worse for wear.

Expect the referees to keep a much tighter rein on this game.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW
A quick note about Jonah Capriotti. Dukes fans will remember Capriotti’s outstanding performance in the Dukes run to the RBC Cup last season. Not surprisingly Capriotti’s success has continued into his college career. Recruited to the D3 school, Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut, Capriotti, a freshman, has been sharing the net with a Junior. In seven games, Capriotti has earned the best save percentage and secondbest goals against average at 1.15 in all Division 3 NCAA hockey.