The Wellington Dukes had a Cinderella run unlike anything the Ontario Junior Hockey League has seen in recent years in the 2019 postseason.

Unfortunately, the defending champions didn't get their storybook ending.

Two quick strikes early in the third period put the Oavkille Blades in the driver's seat and the OJHL's best statistical team in the 2018-19 season would hang on to beat the Dukes in Game 4 of the Buckland Cup championship series Thursday night at Lehigh Arena, sweeping Wellington and winning their third league title in the last 11 years.

The Dukes, who finished in fourth place in the competitive East Division this season, found themselves facing elimination for the fourth time in the playoffs and needed a fast start to get their legs underneath them, which they earned.

Wellington skated with the Blades for much of the first period and were rewarded with the game's first goal.

Veteran forward Tyson Gilmour, playing in his final junior game, reached to deflect a Ben Addison point shot past an out-of-position Will Barber in the Oakville crease for his fifth of the playoffs, Dylan Massie drew the other assist at 14:34.

21 seconds into the man advantage, Harrison Israels angled a Spencer Kersten pass into an open Dukes cage to knot the score at a goal apiece at 5:17.Oakville's deadly offence got a shot to capitalize on a powerplay early in the second and executed.

The Dukes continued to battle and got the majority of the chance down in Oakville's end, but Barber stood tall to preserve the tie heading into the third and eventual final frame.

Israels sunk his second of the night home short-side on Logan Bateman to put the Blades in the lead, then buried another powerplay marker on a blueline blast courtesy of Garrett Pyke just under a minute later.

The last goal turned out to be the difference in this contest.

With a man up, Elijah Gonsalves one-timed a Gilmour set-up past Barber to cut the deficit down to one with over five minutes remaining. Quinn Hanna added a second assist on the Pickering native's 11th of the playoffs.

The Dukes continued to press on in the final few minutes, but ultimately had no more energy left to exert and the Blades finished the job

Head coach John Druce spoke to InQuinte after the game about his group's willingness to battle to the bitter end against the league's best team.Resiliency was the key word for the Dukes this season and the club had to get by with sheer heart, guts and resolve once again with leading scorer Andrew Rinaldi out with a lengthy suspension that he was handed after Game 3.

"We did not give up one ounce in tonight's game," Druce said.

"Any other team would have easily said, 'you know what, we're down 3-0 (in the series), we're going to give up,' but we battled hard until the end. I'm very proud of them."

Dukes forward Ben Woodhouse said the Blades deserve a ton of credit for the win.

"They're a tough team, good goaltending, great uip front, strong defensive end. It's a tough team to beat," he said.

His coach echoed those words.

"This Oakville team has been so good all season long. They have four lines and six (defencemen) that are solid and, on top of that, their goaltending in this series was outstanding."

This year's edition of the Dukes defied the odds in the postseason, finishing fourth in the East Division before upsetting the East Division winning Cobourg Cougars, the always pesky Whitby Fury and the sixth best Junior A team in Canada, the North York Rangers to reach the final against the number three ranked team in Canada in Oakville."You've got to give them a lot of credit."

Druce noted that ever since the Christmas break, the Dukes gelled to become a cohesive unit striving towards one common goal - defending their 2018 title.

It was clearly was evident to many people inside the dressing room and in the stands with their play down the stretch-drive of the season, and especially in the postseason, that the team had succeeded in coming together at the right time.

"Going through Cobourg and beating them in five (games) and then all of a sudden being down 3-1 to Whitby, who was an amazing team- in a physical and tough series (and coming back to win) was amazing enough on its own," he said.

Woodhouse told InQuinte that he was proud of the team's accomplishments this season and that this experience will serve the returning guys well in their quest to go far again next season."Then, going on to play North York, one of the top rated teams in the country as well, (the players) just kept battling."

"We're definitely a close knit team, everybody was willing to work for everybody and it showed on the ice when we took down Cobourg, North York and Whitby. We're willing to battle through anything,"

"I think, next year with a lot of returning guys, we'll have a good chance," he added.

Once again. Druce reiterated that the fan support played a big role in why the County kids went deep into April for a second straight year.

"It's an excitement that most junior kids don't get a chance to experience. Playing in Wellington is a special opportunity for anybody that plays at this level. Even as a coach, it's exciting to be in the building. It's a great place to be."

As part of the end-of-season roundup, Druce said staff and management will have exit meetings with current players and then, along with assistant coaches Derek Smith and Sean Turner and general manager Todd Reid, will begin the process of rebuilding and reloading the team for the 2019-20 season.

Meanwhile, Oakville will go north to represent the OJHL in Cochrane, Ont. in the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canada Championship April 30 to May 4. If thje Blades win, they will go to the National Junior A Championship (formerly known as the RBC Cup) in Brooks, AB as Central region representatives May 11-19.