Lady Dukes win first regular season game

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FOR POST MEDIA

After a 20-month break from regular league play, the Wellington Lady Dukes – Belleville Bearcats, sponsored by Well Busters, played their first regular season game of the girls’ hockey season 2021-22 against the Peterborough Ice Kats on Saturday night.

The nervousness and excitement before the game was felt by everyone as a return to normal. After two goalless spells, the Lady Dukes found the gate to the first goal of the regular season, that of Kaya Brahaney, assisted by Elyse Ives. Towards the end of the third quarter, Hailey Robinson, assisted by Maci Davis, sank the insurance goal and ended the game with a 2-0 win. Addy Cochrane secured her fifth shutout in a row.

On Sunday, the Lady Dukes traveled to Cornwall to play two exhibition games against the typhoons.

No time was wasted building on the previous night’s success when Peyton Armstrong buried the pass, aided by Mackenzie Tyner and Hailey Putnam. Less than a minute later, Makenzi Jones increased the Dukes’ lead to 2-0 with a scramble in front of the net, supported by Hailey Robinson and Taylor Adams. Halfway through the second Armstrong scored a bar-down goal, assisted by Jones. Over time, Ives saw with a cross ice pass only the gate to the 4-0 final score, supported by Emily Moore and Jennifer Keller. Cochrane earned another shutout.

Game two was a goalkeeper duel, as stops were made at both ends that kept the score at zero over two game periods. In the third, Keller ran the puck the entire length of the ice and found the upper corner to open the points without help. Five minutes before the end of the game, the Typhoon snuck one from Cochrane to score their incredible shutout streak of six games for a 1-1 final score.

The Lady Dukes will be on hiatus this coming weekend and will return to gameplay at the North York Stormfest tournament on November 5th. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram to see all the post-game highlights.