Sports

Reign Snap Short Losing Streak on Red Cross Night

Ontario finished a stretch of three games in four nights at Citizens Business Bank Arena with a 3-2 overtime victory over Colorado, after dropping the previous two games.

Story by Bill Norris

The Ontario Reign finished a stretch of three games in four nights at Citizens Business Bank Arena with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Eagles before a sold-out crowd Saturday night.

Saturday’s win broke a two-game losing streak at home, as the Reign lost to Stockton 4-2 Wednesday and the Eagles 5-4 in overtime on Friday.

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Saturday was also Red Cross Jersey night, as Ontario wore specially themed Red Cross jerseys that were auctioned off the game, with proceeds going to the American Red Cross.

Everett Sheen won Saturday’s game, as he converted a rebound of a Brett Beebe shot with 1:43 remaining in the sudden death period. Beebe and Matt Register also scored goals for the Reign, who remain atop the ECHL standings with 26 wins and 57 points on the season.

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Wednesday’s game was one the Reign would like to forget, as they struggled against the Thunder.  The poor performance came after the team had two days off after only playing once the previous week. But captain Derek Couture said that might have played a role in the team’s performance.

“It can be a number of things (that caused the loss),” he said after Wednesday’s game. “Guys just letting their guard down because we’re winning. You do that, and a team that comes in hungry -- they came off a big loss yesterday -- they come in hungry and took advantage of us.”

Friday, the Reign scored four goals in the first 9:37 of the game, but could not hold on as the Eagles rallied for the overtime win.

Jake Newton, a native of San Jacinto, scored twice for Ontario, and defenseman Matt Clune scored his first goal of the season, and added an assist and a fight for the so-called “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” in the game.

Follow in-game updates on Twitter at @ontreigninsider


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