The Wellington Dukes snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Upstate New York Tuesday night.

Down by a goal for much of the second half of the game, the Dukes received a clutch goal with only a second to spare in regulation time from Dawson Ellis and a quick overtime strike from Ben Addison to pull out a 3-2 victory over the Aurora Tigers at the annual OJHL Governor’s Showcase in Buffalo.

Foreshadowing what was to come, the Dukes dominated the opening 20 minutes of play by pelting Aurora goalie Andrew Barwinski with 15 shots, but were only able to muster one goal from Jake Gagnon. The OJHL’s leading scorer notched his seventh of the season, taking a Dylan Massie pass from behind the net and depositing it through Barwinski’s legs late in the frame. Port Hope native Dalyn Wakely, called up to join the team from the Quinte Red Devils minor midgets, added an assist for his first junior point.

The Tigers caught a break moments later, when Brett Humberstone was assessed a five-minute penalty and got tossed from the game for checking from behind. Less than a minute after the major infraction, Jonathan Balah beat Matt Keeley to tie the game on just Aurora’s third shot of the game.

The Dukes continued to control the pace of play and the shot count in the second, but fell behind 2-1 just 2:24 into the period on a goal by Braeden McKinnon.

For the longest time, that marker looked like it might stand up as the difference. However, the Dukes run of good fortune in the opening month of the season would continue thanks to key circumstances.

McKinnon was denied of an insurance marker for the Tigers on a breakaway by Keeley in the final minutes, which set the stage for Ellis’ dramatic equalizer. Ben Woodhouse funnelled the puck to the congested slot area and, with three Tigers in his way, Ellis ripped a shot past a screened Barwinski to knot the score with 1.1 seconds remaining and send the Dukes bench into a frenzy.

Before Aurora could fully recover, Ben Addison worked a cycle with Frank Vitucci, and polished a wrist shot through Barwinski just 34 seconds into overtime to stun the Tigers and squeeze another two points into the bank for Wellington.

The Dukes outshot Aurora 49-22, with both goaltenders deserving credit in their own ways for their teams progress.

Along with another clutch team effort, special mention goes to affiliated players Wakely and Donovan McCoy, both underage skaters brought in from the Quinte Red Devil Minor Midget organization to get ice time in front of scouts, for putting in excellent efforts against players upwards of five years older than them.

After the dramatics of Tuesday’s game, the Dukes will have a quick turnaround to face a tough opponent in what could end up being the marquee game of the showcase, the undefeated Burlington Cougars at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.