Doppelganger

Dukes tangle with a St. Mike’s team that looks much like themselves

Contrary to our errant reporting last week, the Dukes played just a single game on the weekend. But as predicted, they faced a stiff opponent in the St. Michael’s Buzzers.

St. Mikes had started slowly this season, but in the Governor’s Showcase last week, the Buzzers demonstrated how a tradition of success tends to stir some franchises. Coming into Wednesday’s game, St. Mikes had lost its first five games, including a 9-2 thumping from Trenton.

ST. MICHAEL’S 3 – DUKES 1
The Buzzers were a different team in Cobourg. Traditionally, St. Mike’s teams are fast and hardworking. And so they were in this game, back and forth through one period with neither team giving an inch.

Just before the first intermission Lucas Lapalm scored—his second in four starts in Dukes jersey—giving Wellington the lead. It wouldn’t hold. St. Mikes tied the game midway through the second and added another in the third. The Dukes had no response. An empty net goal sealed the win for the Buzzers—their first of the season.

DUKES 3 – ST. MICHAEL’S 2
So it was a suddenly invigorated St. Mike’s squad that visited Wellington on Friday night.

Once again, this match delivered a tenacious, tight-checking first period. It was not until midway through the game before the Buzzers’ sniper Luke Perovic beat Jacob Osborne in the Dukes net.

Just moments later, Captain Jacob Vreugdenhil scored on a breakaway to tie the game. Jaxen Boyer added another in the frame. The Dukes had the lead and wouldn’t look back. Ryan Smith tallied on the power play to extend the Dukes’ lead in the third. But with one last gasp, the Buzzers found the net to make the final half of the period a nailbiter for all the Wellington faithful in attendance.

It was, in the end, an important bounceback win for the Dukes.

The power play remains an area of concern, however. Despite six power play opportunities, Wellington managed just a single goal.

UP NEXT: HALIBURTON AND BURLINGTON (FOR REAL)
On Saturday, the Dukes travel to Minden to face the suddenly ordinary Haliburton County Huskies. The Huskies sat atop the South East Conference with four wins through its first five games, but a pair of losses last week have brought the Huskies to the middle of the South East conference. Yet, they remain a potent threat, especially in the Haliburton highlands.

On Sunday, the Dukes head to the west end of Lake Ontario to tangle with the Burlington Cougars. Burlington has used a stingy defence to win four of seven games early in the season. Cougar forward Jack Richard has cranked out seven points in five games, including five goals.