Taking shape

Dukes’ longest winning streak extends to five games

A couple of road wins last week helped solidify the Wellington Dukes’ grip on third place in the East Conference. Wellington trails only Markham and Trenton in terms of points in the East. The Dukes have already played 21 games, winning 62 per cent of them. (St. Mikes and Stouffville have better- winning percentages, but have played fewer games than the Dukes—five fewer in Stouffville’s case).

The Dukes are now riding a five-game winning streak—its longest this season. It is getting production across the lineup, and the team’s defensive structure is beginning to gel. Over this winning stretch, the Dukes have allowed an average of just two goals a game. In the five prior games, Wellington allowed an average of more than three goals per game.

WELLINGTON 2 – GEORGETOWN 1
Georgetown proved an important test for the Dukes. On the road. A Wednesday night game. Disorienting.

Nevertheless, Wellington came out blistering shots at the Georgetown tender—among the best in OJHL—with 18 in the first period alone. But no goals. Twenty-four more shots in the second. But late in this period, DA Tzaferis beat the Raiders’ Finn Wilson to put the Dukes ahead.

Wellington continued the onslaught of shots in the third. But a Raiders’ power play goal, from John Tavares’s cousin, Quinn, midway through the frame tied the game at one apiece.

In the overtime period, the referees liberally handed out penalties. A pair to Georgetown. One to the Dukes Ethan Quick. So, as some redemption, Quick scored early in the second overtime—with the man advantage.

The Duke outshot the Raiders 61 to 33.

WELLINGTON 4 – NORTH YORK 2
Another disorienting game on Sunday. An afternoon game on the road. Just 85 people were watching the game.

The Dukes were firing right out of the gate. Yet, it was the Rangers who scored in the first period. A brutal, short-handed goal in the second. But in the third, the universe corrected.

Four unanswered goals. Mason Goodfellow, Ethan Quick, Ben Vreugdenhil, and Hayden Pimm each scored.

Once again, the Dukes pummelled the opposing netminder—in this game with 56 shots, versus 24 faced by Jack Lisson in the Dukes’ net.

UP NEXT: STOUFFVILLE, COBOURG AND MARKHAM
The Stouffville Spirit have won three of their last five game—losses coming at the hands of the Markham Royals and the Wellington Dukes. It will be a motivated bunch the Dukes face in Stouffville on Thursday night.

The Spirit get the bulk of their production from two players—Odaro Ewere and Peter Koussis. Shutting down this line is key to success against Stouffville.

On Friday night, the Dukes return to Wellington to face the Cobourg Cougars. The Cougars have a slightly better winning percentage than the Dukes—having played two fewer games. Cobourg has won three of their last four games. Like Stouffville, the Cougars’ offensive production falls off after the first line.

The Dukes hit the road again on Sunday, this time to Markham. The Royals have slipped to second place in the East, but remain a powerful contender with a better winning percentage than the first-place Trenton Dukes. Markham has won four of its last five games.