By Brock Ormond
The Wellington Dukes went 1-3 in the 2024-25 preseason ahead of their season opener on Sept. 8 in Pickering against the Panthers.
Tuesday, August 27- Brockville Braves 3 Dukes 0
Wellington’s offence came up a little dry in its first and only preseason contest at Lehigh Arena.
The Dukes were blanked 3-0 in a hard-fought effort versus the Central Canada Hockey League’s Brockville Braves.
Caledon, Ont. native Gabe Donohue stopped all 15 Brockville shots that came his way, but the visitors broke through on Nicholas Iosif with an Erik Dahlin powerplay goal at 12:26 of the second period.
Alex McIntosh added an insurance marker in the back half of the third frame before Colden Lawrence iced the Braves win in the late stages.
Iosif ended up with seven saves on nine shots.
Wellington outshot Brockville 28-25, but the Braves got a combined shutout from three goaltenders in the victory.
CANUCKS CLASSIC PRESEASON TOURNAMENT
Friday, August 30- Dukes 1 Niagara Falls Canucks 0
Jack Lisson locked horns with Logan Snyder in a goaltender’s duel against the host Niagara Falls Canucks, and his play was a big reason for giving Wellington the victory.
One goal ended up being all the Dukes needed, when returning overage forward Zander Latreille (Windsor, Ont.) deflected a point shot from newcomer Ben Pouliot (Hartland, Michigan, USA) past Snyder with 12 seconds left in the third.
Another returnee, Ryan Schaap, picked up the other assist.
Lisson, a product of Oakville, Ont., was peppered with 38 shots and stopped all of them for the shutout victory.
Saturday, August 31 (Game 1)- Buffalo Jr. Sabres 3 Dukes 2
The Dukes were up and at it early on Saturday and fell just shot in a spirited game versus the OJHL’s lone American squad.
The two teams traded powerplay markers in the first when Dylan McFadden scored for Buffalo and Pouliot countered for the Dukes.
Pouliot’s marker was assisted by Tyler Tsoukalas and Cole Ellis.
McFadden struck in the final 23 seconds of period two to lift Buffalo back into the lead heading into the third.
Defenceman Ronan McFarlane’s flashy individual effort led to the tying goal at 15:53, but McFadden completed his hat trick with 2:41 remaining to seal the Jr. Sabres win.
The Jr. Sabres outshot Wellington 30-25, with Lisson making 27 stops in his second straight start.
Saturday August 31 (Game 2)- Aurora Tigers 6 Dukes 4
The high-powered Aurora Tigers offence did not slow down against the Dukes, scoring six times on Nicholas Iosif after potting 13 goals in their first two games.
Tyler Tsoukalas notched the game’s first goal more than five minutes into the first frame from Pouliot and Odessa, Ont.’s Zach Carrier, but the Dukes ended up having to claw back after Aurora followed with three consecutive markers.
Carrier popped in a rebound of a Logan Klaiber shot at 15:45 of the second to pull the Dukes within one.
A shorthanded goal at 3:24 of the third period evened the score, when Connor Koropatnicki forced a turnover at centre ice and allowed Ethan Murray to go in alone and score on a deke.
Tyson Wassink added the other helper.
The Tigers proved too much however, scoring a trio of tallies to put the game out of reach, before Schaap found the net with the help of Latreille and Noah Picken to finish the scoring.
Wellington outshot Aurora 43-29, with Iosif stopping 23 in the loss.
Stay tuned for the Dukes 36th season opener on Sept. 8, followed by their home opener on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Duke Dome versus the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
