Despite holding an advantage in shots on goal, the Ontario Reign (1-2-0-0) came up short Friday night, falling by a 4-1 score to the Bakersfield Condors (2-0-0-0) at Toyota Arena.
Bakersfield was led by forward Seth Griffith, who scored the game-winning goal during the second period and sealed the victory with an empty-net tally late in the third. Tyler Madden had the lone goal for Ontario, while goaltender Jacob Ingham made his first start of the season and stopped 12 out of 14 shots in a losing effort.
The Condors took the lead with the only goal during the opening period when James Stefan cashed in on a rebound opportunity off an initial shot from Jayden Grubbe that hit the side of the net and bounced into the slot. Stefan’s first-career goal came at 12:29 of the first and had Bakersfield a 1-0 lead at the first intermission despite a 9-5 shots on goal edge for the Reign during the frame.
Griffith added to the Condors’ lead at 15:04 of the middle period with his first goal of the game and the season to make it 2-0.
But Madden responded for Ontario with his second strike of the season three minutes later, driving to the net and redirecting a pass by Jack Studnicka into the net during a power play opportunity. Captain Joe Hicketts was awarded the second assist on the play, his second helper of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Reign continued to put on the pressure in the closing minutes of the period, outshooting Bakersfield 11-6 in the frame, but they remained behind by a goal at the second intermission.
The game remained 2-1 in favor of the Condors until Griffith netted his second of the night into an empty net at 17:51 of the third. Matthew Savie also scored an empty net goal for Bakersfield with nine seconds remaining on the clock to cap off the win for the visitors.
Collin Delia stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Condors in the crease to earn a victory in his first appearance of the season. Madden’s tally was the lone man-advantage strike of the night, with Ontario finishing 1-for-4 on the power play while holding Bakersfield to an 0-for-4 mark.
Below, hear thoughts from Reign head coach Marco Sturm, as well as Ingham and defender Angus Booth –
Marco Sturm
Jacob Ingham
Angus Booth
Ontario is back in action on Friday for its first road game of the season in Coachella Valley against the Firebirds beginning at 7 p.m.
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