Story by Brock Ormond
Photo: Ed McPherson/OJHL Images
A special night at the Duncan McDonald Community Gardens turned into a Trenton Golden Hawks victory.
Trenton snapped a three-game winless streak while simultaneously halting the Wellington Dukes five game-winning streak in a 5-3 decision on Friday night.
Both teams came together for Pink in the Rink festivities at the arena, with billet families coming together for a bake sale to raise money for both Picton and Trenton hospitals.
The Golden Hawks also wore pink and black jerseys to be auctioned to help with the cause.
An offensive-minded first period saw Trenton emerge with a 3-2 lead, with Wellington opening the scoring on a tough angle goal from Zach Mascard and Trenton getting three unanswered responses, two off the stick of Matt Souliere and the other shorthanded from Devin Mauro.
Jared McNeil sandwiched the scoring not long after the Mauro marker, floating a long shot that beat Trenton goaltender Sawyer Russell over his right shoulder.
Russell left the game abruptly in the second period and was replaced by Picton Pirates netminder, former Duke and Wellington resident Nolan Lane.
Wellington netminder Noah Davis settled down in the second frame, making 13 saves on 14 shots to help the Dukes tie the game at the 10:31 mark of the frame, with McNeil jamming in his second of the game on a rebound.
A Cooper Matthews powerplay marker that popped over a fallen Davis gave Trenton the lead back again and they wouldn’t relinquish it the rest of the night.
Two penalties in the late stages of the game hurt the Dukes in their comeback attempt, although Ryan Schaap did get sprung for a good opportunity on a partial break that was denied by Lane.
Souliere iced the game in the waning seconds of the third to complete the hat trick, his first in the OJHL.
Davis made 31 saves in the defeat and also picked up an assist, while Lane stopped 14 of 15 in an outstanding relief effort. Trenton caught up to Wellington in shots and surpassed them, 36-33.
The full box score of the game can be seen at this link.
The victory is Trenton’s 10th in 11 games against Wellington since the Dukes won the Hasty P’s Cup series in 2023.
The Dukes visit Aurora Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., while Trenton is off until Sunday at 7:15 p.m. with a road tilt against the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
