Weekly Reign Wrap-up: Ontario Takes 5 of 6 Points
- Updated: November 7, 2017
The tide is turning for the Ontario Reign, as the team tallied a point in each of its three games this week – two wins and one shootout loss to improve the record to 3-6-0-1, seven points behind the Pacific Division-leading Tucson Roadrunners. The Reign’s next game is 7 p.m., Saturday, November 11 against the San Diego Gulls at the Valley View Casino Center.
In the 4-2 home victory on November 1 against the San Jose Barracuda, the Reign jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period on a goal by forward Matt Luff and two by Jonny Brodzinski, the latter ending the night with his second career hat-trick. T.J. Hensick racked up three assists and goalie Jack Campbell stopped 22 shots in the victory.
From here, the team looked to two games versus cross-county rivals San Diego Gulls. In the November 3 match-up, the Reign took a third straight victory, shutting up and shutting out the Gulls 1-0. Goalie Cal Petersen stopped all 27 shots and earned his first victory this season. The Reign tallied 42 shots, including the most important shot at 8:02 of the first period by Philippe Maillet, since it went in. On the two-man power play advantage, Maillet’s goal came on assists from Hensick and Brodzinski.
The next night, November 4, the two teams met in Ontario, extending the game to a shootout where the Gulls took the match 4-3, lighting the lamp twice. Once again the Reign dominated in shots, 41-27, including a season-high 19 shots in the first period. Even though the Reign outplayed its opponent in the first, the Gulls took a 2-0 lead into the break, scoring on two quirky tip-ins. The Reign scored two in the second to bring the team back. Goalie Campbell made 23 saves and Michael Mersch tallied one goal and an assist. It was enough to give the Reign at least one point ending out the week.
Speaking to the Ontario Reign Insider, coach Mike Stothers said, “We got three out of four points this weekend, and it wasn’t too long ago we were going weekends with goose eggs. We’re moving in the right direction. I’m happy with the guys and the performance out of all of them. Things are looking up.”
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Ontario Regin and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time