Douro Dukes win OMHA title in overtime
‘Elation’ as peewee team wins DD championship
After losing their first four games of the season, an OMHA title might not have seemed in the Douro M&M Disposals Peewee Dukes' future.
The Dukes secured the OMHA DD championship before a packed house at the Douro Community Centre with a 6-5 overtime win over Shallow Lake on Saturday night.
The Dukes won the six-point series 7-3 after the teams tied the first three games and Douro took game four 6-2. A tie would have clinched the title but Quinn McIlwain‘s goal with 50 seconds left in overtime proved a more exciting way to celebrate.
“It was just nice to get a win to win the whole series,” said Dukes coach Willie Towns, who was assisted by Josh Bean, Jacob O’Grady and Ned O’Grady.
The group hadn’t been to an OMHA final since they lost as novices.
Towns said they were confident they had a strong team heading into the season until they lost their first four games.
“It was like, ‘Hmm, maybe we’re not as good as we thought,” said Towns. “But the boys worked hard and we worked them hard. We had a great coaching staff and we had great chemistry.”
Getting away as a team to a Silver Stick Tournament in Pembroke in November was a turning point for the team, said Towns. They were one goal shy of reaching the semifinals but the results weren’t the important development that weekend.
“A tournament like that they start to gel,” he said. “Things like that get the team together. From there, it seemed like they started buying into our practices and the things we wanted them doing.”
The Dukes beat Centre Hastings 4-1 in a seven-game opening-round series before defeating Millbrook and Creemore in five games each.
They were the lone Douro team to reach an OMHA final this season.
“It was elation for them to win it at home with all the fans there,” said Towns. “It was a community event. We probably had 600 people in the arena. It’s great the community supports everybody.”