Story by Brock Ormond
Photo: OJHL Images/Wellington Dukes
Captain Jacob Vreugdenhil gave the Wellington Dukes a lifeline in a back-and-forth game on Friday night.
The Belleville native capitalized on a rebound with 39 seconds left to deny the Haliburton County Huskies a sixth straight win, and 10 minutes of overtime solved nothing, with the game ending in a 4-4 tie.
Dukes goalie Jacob Osborne made 40 saves, including some massive stops at various junctures of the game to keep Wellington afloat and earn a crucial point against an east division rival.
That was especially important, as Wellington never led throughout the game.
Recently-named September Player of the Month Julien Jacob tied the score late in the first period on a slapper from the right side after ex-Duke Cam Kosurko opened the scoring.
Following a pair of Huskies tallies in the second from Christian Stevens and Patrick Saini, Jaxen Boyer whisked a shot through the five-hole of Huskies netminder Aidan Spooner for his fourth of the year at the 9:15 mark of the second.
Edward Moskowitz equaled the count again with a one-timer on the powerplay at 4:08 of the third frame for one of his three points on the night, but the Huskies pulled ahead once again with a man advantage goal of their own.
Stevens tipped home his second of the night at 6:34 and that tally appeared to have stood as the winner, until Vreugdenhil had his say.
He won a faceoff and went straight to the side of the net in waiting for a David Campbell shot and pounced on the loose puck with Spooner out of position for the tying marker.
Campbell’s helper was the last of his three on the night.
A heart-stopping overtime period produced a group of chances, but no goals, and each team earned a well-deserved point.
The final shots ended dead even as well, 44-44.
The Dukes finish their weekend on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. with another home game against the St. Michael’s Buzzers.
