There are no longer any undefeated teams in the OJHL’s East Conference.
The Wellington Dukes were the last domino to fall, losing 6-4 to the Stouffville Spirit on Friday night at Lehigh Arena.
The Spirit converted four times on the powerplay, taking advantage of some stumbles in the discipline department for Wellington and started the offence early on a tip-in goal by Zack Corte.
The Dukes found a way to keep pace and eventually evened the score when Kyle Grasby floated a shot through heavy traffic off Stouffville goalie Hayden Sabourin’s blocker and in for his second of the season.
Zack Carrier found the net for the first of two times on the night by cleaning up a rebound off a missed chance to give the Dukes the lead at 2:34 of the second, but Kieran Litterick and former Duke Logan Sitlani found the back of the net to help Stouffville retake the lead before the end of the frame.
Wellington ran into trouble early in the third with four unanswered penalties, including a failed video review on a potential kicking motion, as the Spirit scored twice more through Elijah Chavez and Hamza Havusic.
Carrier’s one-timer for his second of the game and a tip of a floating shot from Zach Mascard trimmed the gap to one, but Corte would bookend the scoring with a late empty-netter to squash any hopes of a Wellington comeback.
Carrier added an assist, with Ethan Murray chipping in with three and Sacha Trudel adding two and singles being provided by Christian Armstrong and Cole Ellis.
Royden Smith made 26 saves in the loss, which leaves the defending West Conference champion Milton Menace as the only team without a loss in the OJHL.
This game sets the stage for a busy weekend, with a date in Lindsay coming on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
(BROCK ORMOND)
