Comeback falls short in Ontario

Three goals in the span of 1:31 of the first period gave the the Reign a 3-0 lead after one period. F Dan DaSilva finished off a backdoor feed at 4:24 to make it 1-0. D Vincent LoVerde hopped up on an odd-man rush to make it 2-0 at 5:45. Then off the ensuing faceoff, F Colton Yellow Horn raced into the Condors zone and beat Stewart to make it 3-0, just 10 seconds after the LoVerde goal. Bakersfield had late chances, but were held scoreless. The Reign outshot the Condors, 14-11.

Feeling the momentum from an early second period D Trevor Hendrikx fight, the Condors cut into the lead with a goal from C Levi Nelson at the 9:51 mark. After forcing a turnover in the neutral zone, Nelson walked into the right-wing circle and snapped his sixth goal of the season under the crossbar. It would stay 3-1 after two periods as Ontario outshot Bakersfield, 17-8.

The Condors cut the lead to 3-2 on the power play when F Peter Boyd found a loose puck in the crease and banged it home at the 6:04 mark of the third period. However, that was as close as the Condors would get as F Derek Couture tacked on a late power-play goal to make it a 4-2 final for the Reign.

Tonight’s box score: click here

C Levi Nelson’s second period goal was his sixth of the season, tied for the team-high… D Trevor Hendrikx fight in the second period was his fifth of the season, second on the team… Ontario G J-F Berube started against the Condors for the first time since fighting former Condor G Bryan Pitton on 1/28/12… The Condors scratched RW Tyler Brenner (inj.), F David Toews (inj.), F Brett Perlini (inj.) and D Olivier Dame-Malka (inj.)… Shots on goal: BAK – 26  , ONT – 44 … Power plays: BAK- 1/6   , ONT – 0/4 … Three Stars: #1 Yellow Horn (ONT), #2 LoVerde (ONT), #3 Stewart (BAK)