Story by Brock Ormond
Photo: OJHL Images
The Wellington Dukes’ new look proved to be a good luck charm on Friday night.
Sporting new red jerseys, the Dukes came out on fire and never slowed down en route to an 11-3 shellacking of the Toronto Patriots – gaining a couple of milestones in the process.
The Dukes rolled to four goals in the first frame, three of them on the powerplay as they took advantage of an undisciplined Patriots squad.
The line of Luke Lapalm, Edward Moskowitz and Corbin Roach all combined for the four tallies, with Lapalm scoring two of his three on the night.
After yielding a tally to Joseph Colangelo early in the second, Wellington’s offensive machine revved up again with Moskowitz ripping home a shorthanded goal for his second of the night and Jaxen Boyer dangling out Toronto goalie Chris Quizi for his third of the season.
That marker chased the starter from the game in favour of Aidan Amidovski, but the onslaught continued.
Belleville native Nate Woods accepted a clean pass from Jared Langdon and scored on a deke for his first OJHL goal, then Jacob Dietz ripped home his first tally of the season from the close slot to extend the lead to seven.
The Pats came back with two goals in the first half of the third period, but Jacob Vreugdenhil, Woods and Lapalm all tallied in a row, with the Stirling-Rawdon native completing his first career junior hat trick.
Vreugdenhil’s marker was his 50th official goal in the OJHL.
Lapalm led the way with four points, but the Dukes’ balanced offensive attack helped them get the convincing win. Everyone except two players, Connor Hunt and newcomer Mitchell Young, picked up points.
Ethan Morrow made 27 saves in the victory.
Wellington is right back at it Saturday at 7:45 p.m. in Mississauga against the Chargers.
