It was a big day for the Wellington Dukes in their season and home opener on Sunday afternoon.
New head coach Jacob Panetta earned his first win in his OJHL coaching debut as the Dukes downed the Trenton Golden Hawks 5-3 in front of a charged crowd at Lehigh Arena.
Sacha Trudel notched Wellington’s first and last goals of the game and Sammy Longo added his first OJHL goal as part of the Dukes first victory against Trenton since the 2023 OJHL playoffs after 11 straight losses.
Attempting to kill the festive atmosphere inside the Duke Dome, the Golden Hawks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead within 12 seconds on goals from Kayden Oliver (assisted by Kale Mace and Devin Ferroni) and Isaiah Shantz before Trudel cut into the deficit with a sharp shot top shelf off the left wing from Ethan Fredericks and Zach Mascard.
Kyle Kavc buried a rebound on a powerplay from Zack Carrier and Ethan Murray later in the first to even the score going into the intermission break and wrestle a bit more momentum away from the defending Buckland Cup Champions.
Wellington managed to take nearly full advantage of only three shots in the second stanza, with Longo converting on an Evan Erwin centering pass at 6:28, then Mascard deflecting a hard Cole Ellis pass home on a powerplay at 11:44, with Maxime Morin adding a second assist.
Taeo Artichuk, a 33-goal, 89 point player last season for Trenton, found the net over a minute into the third from Jaxon Broda, but the Dukes put the Hawks away on a third powerplay goal of the day with Trudel hooking a loose puck behind Wilson.
Ellis and Kavc each added their second points of the game with assists.
Jacob Brown made 34 saves in keeping the Dukes strong as Trenton outshot Wellington 37-15.
The Hawks now get set for their home opener and banner-raising ceremony Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. versus the North York Rangers.
The Dukes won’t play again until the OJHL Governor’s Showcase on Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. versus the Georgetown Raiders in Niagara Falls.
(BROCK ORMOND)
