On the move

Buoyed by four-game winning streak and bolstered lineup, the Dukes set their eyes on second place

With four wins, the Dukes have moved within striking distance of taking over second place in the South/East Conference. Wellington is now just one point back of the Haliburton County Huskies and 14 points back of the league-leading and conference-leading Toronto Junior Canadiens.

With just 13 games left in Wellington’s regular season schedule (the Dukes’ make-up game in Caledon has not yet been scheduled), it seems improbable that the Dukes will catch the Junior Canadiens— but second place, in an extremely competitive conference, is now within reach.

The Wellington Dukes are surging, it seems, at the right time.

NEW AND OLD
Success is coming from solid contributions up and down the Dukes’ lineup, from stalwarts and recent additions. Connor Hunt scored three times on Sunday— leading his team to a 4-1 win in North York. Hunt is in his first season in a Dukes jersey. The Madoc forward now has 32 points in forty games.

Meanwhile, a recent arrival, Ryan Cutler, is making his mark in a Dukes jersey with eight points, including six goals, in six games in Wellington. The Keswick native was joined by fellow Keswickian, Luke Strickland, in Wellington on Friday. Strickland scored and added an assist in his debut—helping to defeat Cobourg 9-2.

DUKES 4 – NORTH YORK 1
Connor Hunt ripped a shot into the North York net 70 seconds into the game. Unassisted. A few moments later, Connor Roach doubled the Dukes’ lead. North York scored in the second frame, making things respectable to the 70 fans who showed up at the Downsview Rink on Sunday night.

Now in fairness, Dukes’ netminder Ethan Morrow gets much of the credit for keeping the Rangers off the scoreboard on this night. A few too many careless defensive plays created odd-man chances for North York.

Yet it was Hunt, from Edward Moskowitz and Jacob Vreugdenhil, who extended the Dukes’ lead in the third. Hunt added an empty netter to seal the win and earn his hat trick.

DUKES 9 – COBOURG 2
Cobourg is a good team—talented, fast and hard-working. But in recent outings, the Cougars have become a bit one-dimensional. When Krotiris is on the ice, his team is a threat. Otherwise, not so much.

On the heels of a convincing 6-3 win in Cobourg on Monday, the Dukes welcomed the Cougars back to Wellington on Friday. The visiting team put up a spirited fight in the first period, with a strong and deep forecheck, lightning quick on the transition.

But Ryan Cutler was about to have a bountiful night. Midway through the first, the Dukes were on the power play. David Campbell dipsydoodled around the edge before finding Cutler in the slot. Pass. Shot. Dukes’ lead.

A couple of moments later, Campbell went end to end, using the room afforded by four on four, due to simultaneous penalties. Up the wing before sliding the puck out to Nolan Mozer. Goal.

Seconds later, Vreugdenhil snapped home a hard wrister from the face-off circle. Top shelf. Suddenly, despite a hard-fought start and a bevy of shots on net, the Cougars were behind 3-0.

Cobourg beat Jacob Osborne late in the period to stay in the hunt. The tide turned for a while. Both sides up and down the ice. Fast. Tenacious. But midway through the second, Jacob Vreugdenhil forced a turnover. Two on one with Lucas LaPalm. Back and forth. Pretty goal. Executed perfectly.

Seconds later, Cobourg gave up an almost identical two-on-one. This time the Cobourg netminder made the stop, but his team was reeling. That is when Cutler wrestled the puck away from the hapless defender behind the Cougar net. Quick pass out to the slot, where fellow Keswickian Luke Strickland tapped in the puck.

It got worse for Cobourg. Before the period was done, Barrett Joynt charged down the wing, putting a shot/pass into the crease from deep in the corner. The puck pinballed around the blue paint. Jared Langdon got credit for the goal.

Early in the third, Cobourg beat Osborne one more time. But unlike their first, there was little celebration or enthusiasm. The Dukes piled on with three more goals—another from Cutler as well as from Julien Jacob and Graeme MacAuley. Cutler set up both—finishing up with five points on the night.

UP NEXT: MISSISSAUGA AND HALIBURTON COUNTY
Mississauga visits Wellington on Friday night. The Chargers have won just four games all season and sit in last place in the South/East Conference.

Mississauga can score, but they allow a ton of goals—spotting opposing teams more than five goals per game on average. Yet, it is a mistake to underestimate any team in the OJHL—especially frustrated teams. This is the third meeting between these teams this season. The Dukes have won all three by a combined score of 18-3.

Wellington heads up to Minden for a tougher match on Saturday afternoon. Here the contest is more likely to determine who will claim second place in the conference. After narrowly beating Caledon, the Huskies have two wins in five games since—including a 4-3 loss to Wellington mid-month.

Haliburton County’s goalie tandem of Aiden Spooner and Tyler Hodges is among the best in the OJHL. The 6 foot-six-inch Spooner gets most of the playing time, but Hodges has the better save percentage and goals-against-average.