Story by Brock Ormond
Photo: OJHL Images/Wellington Dukes
A crazy comeback put the Wellington Dukes in the win column for the fourth straight game.
Trailing twice in the third period, the Dukes tied the score with 14 seconds left, then won on a Ryan Schaap deflection to stun the Cobourg Cougars 4-3 on Monday.
The goaltenders were the story for the bulk of the game, with Wellington’s Jacob Brown and Cobourg’s Reece Herman posting zeroes for the first 40 minutes.
The Cougars broke through with two straight in the third, with Michael DeSousa jamming in a powerplay goal and Nathan Whipkey scoring even strength.
Wellington’s first answer came on Ryan Castle’s third of the season at 8:51 when his sweep shot hit a Cougars’ skate and snuck in.
Cory Jewitt scored on an unassisted effort for his 14th of the year to equal the score less than three minutes later.
The Cougars went ahead with about two-and-a-half minutes later with a Diego DaSilva goal on a loose puck off an initial save from Brown.
Cobourg had the game in its hands with the Wellington net empty, but missed multiple opportunities to finish it off, which came back to cost them when Zack Carrier slapped a loose puck from the left faceoff circle short-side over Herman’s right shoulder.
The game-tying marker fueled the Dukes momentum in the overtime session, as they managed all four shots and the winning goal when Schaap got a piece of a Jewitt shot from up high in the Cobourg zone.
The winner, Schaap’s 16th of the season, was also assisted by Castle, with all three players that factored in on the goal
Zander Latreille added two assists and Brown made 17 saves for his second victory in as many days.
Wellington is 21-10 on the season ahead of a titan-like matchup with the #1 ranked team in the CJHL, the arch-rival Trenton Golden Hawks at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Lehigh Arena.
