Story by Brock Ormond
Photo: Wellington Dukes/OJHL Images
The Wellington Dukes’ 36th home opener in Junior A hockey ended with the same result as their 35th – a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
The Jr Canadiens, who knocked the Dukes out of the last postseason, victimized the home team early on Friday, scoring three times on 16 shots in the first period courtesy of Chris Soares, Lucas Teixiera and Cayden Smith, despite Jack Lisson’s best efforts to keep his team alive.
Wellington started to settle down in the second period and use a bit more of their physicality, but the score didn’t change heading into the third.
The Dukes started clamoring back in the final frame, with Zack Carrier and Cory Jewitt scoring back-to-back in the early stages of the third, 31 seconds apart.
Carrier fired a hard shot from distance to beat Toronto goalie Daniel Dirracolo with some help from Ben Vreugdenhil and Sacha Trudel, then Jewitt swept one home from a sharp angle, assisted by Ryan Schaap and Zander Latrielle.
Jalen Lobo furthered the lead back to two, converting a loose puck off a rebound just shy of six minutes into the third.
Ever persistent, the Dukes found a way to claw back within one again, on another Carrier marker at the 13:10 juncture of the third.
Trudel drew the lone helper.
A late push proved futile, and the Jr. Canadiens held on to improve to a perfect 4-0 on the season.
Lisson made 33 saves in the loss, as Toronto outshot Wellington 37-27.
The Dukes are 1-1 on the young campaign and will welcome the Markham Royals to town at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
