Rolling

Dukes win three in six days
STORY AND PHOTOS: KEVIN SCANLON

What a hectic week that was! The Dukes played four games in six days, winning three and losing one to keep a firm hold on fourth place in the OJHL’s East Division. As if that wasn’t great enough, the cherry on the cupcake was this writer winning $225 in Thursday’s 50-50 draw. Sometimes scribbling about these games is well worth the drive to the arena.

DUKES 3, MARKHAM 0
Ben Vreugdenhil scored two of Wellington’s three goals in a shutout victory over the Royals in Markham on Tuesday of last week. Jayden Levesque had the other marker. Jacob Brown stopped 27 shots for the shutout.

DUKES 2, TORONTO 5
A pretty even first period was punctuated by a four-minute goalie change when Dukes netminder Jacob Brown suffered a bloody nose after stopping a shot with his mask. He returned after getting medical attention. Toronto emerged with a 1-0 lead. The scoresheet said the Dukes were outshot 19-5 in that period, but there is no doubt that Toronto goalie Amir Valiulin had more than five fresh puck marks on him. The goals came in the second period when Toronto scored on a fluke shot at the 1:57 mark. But the Dukes fought back and a lot of hard work on the power play resulted in Jayden Levesque’s 14th goal of the season. A bad giveaway and a quick rush at the end of a Wellington power play gave the Junior Canadiens a 4-1 lead. In the third, Ethan Murray’s snipe to the top corner gave the Dukes hope, but Toronto scored into an empty net to finish it off.

DUKES 11, NORTH YORK 1
With parents and other family members cheering them on from the stands, the Dukes came roaring out of the gate with three good chances in the first minute. The scoring started in the second period when Dukes defender Alex Hendry notched his second of the season from his knees. Quinn McNamara put the Dukes up 2-0 just 34 seconds later. Cory Jewitt, Jared McNeil and Ryan Schaap pushed the lead to 5-1 to enter the third period and that’s when the roof fell in for lastplace North York. In just three minutes, Wellington scored four times with Schaap, Jewitt, Vince Albanese and Mc- Namara netting goals. Kyle Kavc and Ethan Murray finished the scoring. Jewitt, Schaap and Ryan Castle all had four-point games.

DUKES 6, ST. MICHAEL’S 4
Hard-working forward Sacha Trudel sat out Friday’s game, but the rest did him good as he scored twice and added an assist to lead the Dukes to victory over the visiting Buzzers. Jared McNeil, who also had a pair, opened the scoring in the first before St. Mike’s tied it. But Jayden Levesque’s goal, his first of four points in the game, put the Dukes back in front. The Buzzers tied the game early in the second before Trudel went to work, his second goal scored on a shorthanded breakaway. Ethan Murray closed out the Wellington scoresheet in the third. The star of the game was Dukes goalie Jacob Brown who turned away 44 shots to keep the Buzzers at bay. St. Mike’s outshot the Dukes 48-22.

UP NEXT: STOUFFVILLE, LINDSAY, HALIBURTON
The Dukes have three games in the coming week, two at home. On Thursday at 3:30 p.m., they visit the Stouffville Spirit, who are four points behind Wellington in the standings. On Sunday, the Lindsay Muskies will be at Lehigh Arena for a 2:30 p.m. start. Then the Dukes play a rare Tuesday night game at home against the third-place Haliburton Huskies at 7:30 p.m.