Story by Brock Ormond
Photo: Wellington Dukes/OJHL Images
The Wellington Dukes produced a solid showing on the road in Brantford Thursday night, coming out on top with a 4-1 victory.
The Dukes spotted the host 99ers a first period lead before storming back with four unanswered tallies to claim their eighth ‘W’ of the season.
Spencer Vandenberg cracked the seal of Shane Shelest and the Dukes in the final minute of the opening frame, but an intermission breather appeared to reinvigorate Wellington in the middle stanza.
Coming off scoring his first goal of the year on Sunday in Toronto, Dimitri Tzaferis buried his second of the season just over a minute into the second period, with Will Mitchell following it up with his fourth of the year about two minutes later.
That tally, the Kingston native’s first since his Sept. 10 hat trick in Pickering, turned out to be the decider.
Quinte Red Devils graduate Ben Vreugdenhil got a piece of Zander Latreille’s powerplay point shot to deflect it past Brantford goalie Aiden Berry at 9:28 of the third.
Cory Jewitt followed with his team-best 10th of the season on another man-advantage at 13:55.
Justin Pare contributed two helpers on his 20th birthday. Single helpers went to Latreille, Tzaferis, Connor Hunt, Sacha Trudel, Austin Montgomery-Parsons, and Connor Loerzel.
The at-times chippy game finished with a shot count of 39-21 in favour of Wellington, with Shelest stopping 20.
The Dukes return home for a pair of contests, starting with one Friday against the Mississauga Chargers at 7:30 p.m.
