Ontario Scores Three Unanswered to Upend Eagles, 6-3
Feb 16, 2020
Ontario, CA. – The Ontario Reign broke a 3-3 deadlock in the third period by scoring three straight goals to defeat the Colorado Eagles 6-3 on Sunday. Eagles defenseman Jacob MacDonald netted a pair of goals in the losing effort, as goaltender Adam Werner suffered the loss in net, allowing six goals on 40 shots. Ontario forward Mikey Eyssimont paced the home side with a goal and three assists, while fellow forward Gabriel Vilardi ended the afternoon with three assists.
Colorado would strike first when the Eagles turned the tables on a Reign power play with forward Logan O’Connor burying his own rebound on the heels of a shorthanded breakaway. The tally put Colorado on top, 1-0 at the 9:56 mark of the first period and now gives O’Connor goals in back-to-back games.
Ontario would flip the script and take advantage of an Eagles power play when a Colorado turnover led to a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush that would be capped off with a goal from the left-wing circle from forward Matt Luff. The late marker would tie the game at 1-1 with only seven seconds left to play in the opening 20 minutes of action.
The Eagles would hop back in front with a power play early in the second period that would set up MacDonald to snap a wrister from the top of the left-wing circle past Reign goalie Kevin Poulin. The tally gave Colorado a 2-1 edge at the 5:26 mark of the middle frame and ran MacDonald’s goal scoring streak to three games.
The lead would not last long, as Ontario defenseman Mikey Anderson launched a shot from the blueline that would elude Werner and tie the contest at 2-2 with 11:55 remaining in the second stanza. The Reign would then claim its first lead of the afternoon when Eyssimont fed a pass from behind the net to the top of the crease, where forward Giovanni Fiore would sweep it home to give Ontario the 3-2 advantage at the 10:44 mark of the period.
Still trailing 3-2 as the two teams took to the ice for the final 20 minutes of play, MacDonald would strike again when he sliced through the slot, collecting a pass from Jayson Megna and wiring a shot past Poulin to tie the game at 3-3 just 5:26 into the period.
A turnover deep in the Eagles zone would see Eyssimont snag the loose puck and bury a shot from between the circles to put the Reign back in the driver’s seat, 4-3 with 7:39 remaining in the game. It would take only 60 seconds to see the lead grow, as Eyssimont would feed a streaking Carl Grundstrom on top of the crease and Grundstrom would muscle the puck past Werner to give Ontario a 5-3 advantage at the 13:21 mark of the final frame.
The Reign would cap off the scoring when Eyssimont would set up forward Lance Bouma with a centering feed in the slot that Bouma would direct into the back of the net to give Ontario a 6-3 lead with 2:59 left to play in regulation.
Colorado was outshot in the contest, 40-34. The Eagles finished the afternoon going 1-for-5 on the power play and a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Eagles return to action when they travel to take on the Ontario Reign on Friday, February 21st at 8:00pm MT at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
Tickets for all regular season contests are on sale now and can be purchased at ColoradoEagles.com or by calling (970) 686-SHOT.
