Vreugdenhil strikes late to pull Dukes into win column

A last-minute Ben Vreugdenhil tally lifted the Wellington Dukes to a 4-3 win over the Lindsay Muskies on Sunday afternoon.

The Frankford product backhanded his 19th of the season over Lindsay goalie Noah Kraus’ left shoulder with only 53 seconds left in regulation time to send Wellington fans home happy.

The Dukes jumped ahead with the only goal of the first about halfway through when Zennon Edwards connected with Cory Jewitt for the captain’s 22nd of the season on a powerplay.

A much busier period on offence for both teams started with a Sacha Trudel marker, with Ryland Cunningham answering back on a two-on-one break for the Muskies less than a minute later.

Ryan Schaap quickly restored the two-goal advantage 27 seconds later with a missile off the left wing, but the Muskies stayed in the game on Cunningham’s second of the day on a five-on-three powerplay.

The third period was up for grabs after a Joaquin Gonzalez tally at the 5:34 mark, before Vreugdenhil’s heroics.

Trudel, who registered the primary assist on the winner, finished with a game-best three points.

Jewitt added an assist, along with Kyle Kavc, Ronen MacFarlane, Edwards, Carson Littlejohn, and Ryan Castle.

Jacob Brown was rock solid again with 31 saves to bag the Dukes 29th win of the season.

The team returns to action Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. against the Haliburton County Huskies.