Story by Brock Ormond
Photo: OJHL Images/Wellington Dukes
Another key two points were achieved over an East division rival by the Wellington Dukes.
Six different players hit the net for Wellington in a 6-3 victory on the road over the Cobourg Cougars on Monday night.
A strong crowd was on hand to see a competitive first period, with the two teams trading goals.
Jacob Dietz cashed in 8:51 into the game with his sixth of the year on a blast from the slot to finish a brief flurry of chances, with Edward Moskowitz and Ryan Smith chipping in with assists.
Adam Barone answered just under three minutes later from George Krotiris and Belleville native Trevor Hoskin to even the score.
After a delay to fix a pane of glass that popped loose near the penalty boxes, the Dukes dashed to a fast start in the second.
Corbin Roach poked the puck through the center off the opening faceoff, split the defence and deked out Cobourg goalie Ryan Piros to help Wellington retake the lead.
Jacob Vreugdenhil hopped on his own rebound to extend Wellington’s lead at 3:26 with help from Connor Hunt and Creo Solomon.
Vreugdenhil’s goal gave him his second straight 20 goal season.
Hoskin shrunk Cobourg’s deficit less than a minute later, but the Dukes took advantage of some more undisciplined play by the Cougars.
With Tyler Hunt in the box for a check to the head, Luke Lapalm, Smith and Moskowitz drove to the net, with Lapalm burying a loose puck in the crease area for his 21st of the year at 9:02.
Wellington carried its two-goal advantage to the third, where Matheson Mason and Smith added insurance.
Vreugdenhil broke up a Cobourg passing play and wheeled away on a shorthanded rush, feathering a pass to Mason for the tap-in to make it 5-2, before Smith contributed an unassisted marker at 14:06 to finish a three-point game.
Cobourg got a late goal from Hunt to wrap the scoring.
Ethan Morrow made 28 saves on 31 Cobourg chances on net to help lift Wellington to a 26-9-2-2 record and put them three points ahead of the Cougars for third in the OJHL’s Southeast Conference with 56 points.
The Dukes will meet Cobourg again on Friday at Lehigh Arena, but before that, they will head on the road to face the Caledon Admirals at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
