Tag Archives: Sean O’Connor

Reign 6, Bakersfield 4.

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The Reign came back from a 3-1 first-period deficit, and a negated goal in the third period, to beat the Pacific-Division leading Condors.

Sean O’Connor scored the game-winner with 2:41 left in the third period. Greg Hogeboom, Tony Voce, Tim Kraus and Jon Francisco also scored, and Mike Egener could have had a two-goal game if not for a disallowed goal with 12:23 left.

Goaltender Curtis Darling got his third win in as many days, stopping 19 of 23.

Robert Pearce had three assists and Michael Pelech and Mike Howe each collected a pair of assists.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Reign 5, Idaho 4, OT.

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Who’d have thunk it?

After losing 7-0 in Bakersfield on Sunday, the Reign went out and won back-to-back games against the Idaho Steelheads, the best team in the conference. Greg Hogeboom’s power-play goal at 3:40 of overtime sealed the victory in a game that saw the Steelheads outshoot the Reign 47-25.

Sean O’Connor’s seventh goal of the season, with 4:19 left in the third period, tied the game at 4. Peter Lenes, Robert Pearce and Jon Francisco also scored for the Reign, who are now one point behind the Las Vegas Wranglers for the final National Conference playoff berth.

Nine different Reign players had one assist, and goaltender Curtis Darling stopped 40 of 45 shots. The Reign went 2-for-4 on the power play and held Idaho to one power play goal in four man-advantage shifts.

Reign 5, Stockton 3.

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First the good news.

The Reign power play came alive; officially they were 2-for-8 with the man advantage, but Tony Voce’s first goal came two seconds after a 5-on-4 shift expired.

The penalty kill was equally impressive, killing 4 of 5 – including a total of 1:37 while down two men late in the third period.

Todd Jackson came back into the lineup and was officially awarded two assists in his debut game. That could be changed upon review; Michael Pelech insisted that he did not touch the puck that Jackson deposited on the goal line in the first period, even though the goal was credited to Pelech, who followed Jackson’s shot to make sure it counted.

The other goals were more clear-cut — Voce scored twice, Jon Francisco and Sean O’Connor scored once, and Curtis Darling stopped 29 of 32 on less than 24 hours’ rest.

Now the bad news: James McEwan was taken to a hospital after his first-period fight with Stockton’s James Bates. McEwan injured his hand in the fight and did not return to the game.

Prior to the game, defenseman Mike Egener went on three-day injured reserve with what Karl Taylor called a “lower body injury,” and was replaced on the blue line by Brian Kilburg. Taylor said there is no timetable yet for Egener to return from Friday’s injury, but 3-day IR certainly leaves more room for optimism than the 7- or 21-day IR.

Peter Lenes, who has not scored a goal since Dec. 12, was scratched for the first time all season in order to make room for Jackson.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Reign 5, Alaska 2.

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The final score didn’t reflect the intensity of a game the Reign easily could have lost.


They trailed 2-0 after seven minutes. They gave up seven power plays to the Aces, including a 5-minute long 5-on-4 shift in the third.

But never has their defense looked more suffocating; the Reign only allowed 22 shots the entire game, didn’t allow a power-play goal, and came back to win 5-2. 

Officially, Michael Pelech was credited with his first two-goal game as a professional. The second came out of a three-player scrum in front of the net, and Pelech insists that Greg Hogeboom touched it last, but the official scorer gave it to Pelech upon further review. Sean O’Connor, Shawn Germain and Tim Kraus scored the others — the final two landing in an empty net in the last minute.

Curtis Darling got his second start in as many nights and stopped 20 of 22. 

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Alaska 3, Reign 2, shootout.

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Mike Howe and Greg Hogeboom staked the Reign to a 2-0 lead after 23 minutes, but that evaporated along with the Reign’s two-game losing winning streak.


Nick Mazzolini scored with 1:23 left in the third period to force overtime, where the Reign had their chances but failed to convert.


In the shootout, Alaska’s first three shooters scored on Curtis Darling (32 saves) but Tony Voce and Sean O’Connor scored on the other end for the Reign. The final shooter, Chad Starling, hit the post on the final shot of the game — one of many in the game.

More details in tomorrow’s editions and check back here tomorrow for postgame reaction. The same two teams square off in 24 hours at The Bank.

Reign 4, Utah 0.

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The Reign have their first back-to-back wins in more than a month, and their first series win in Utah ever. 


Tony Voce scored twice for the second straight game, Tim Kraus and Sean O’Connor added tallies, and Curtis Darling recorded his second shutout of the season. 

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Utah 5, Reign 2.

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The Reign came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game at 2, before allowing three goals to close out their fourth straight loss. 


The three-games series at the E-Center saw the Grizzlies enjoy seven power plays, scoring on four. The Reign (14-20-3-3) have lost 11 of 12 to fall to eighth place in the eight-team National Conference. 

David Walker and Sean O’Connor scored goals in the second period, and Curtis Darling stopped 42 of 47 in goal for the Reign. A.J. Perry had a goal and three assists for Utah (18-16-2-2), including a helper on the game-winner at 17:04 of the middle period.

Stockton 4, Reign 2.

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Newcomer Sean O’Connor scored twice, but the Thunder scored the go-ahead goal at 7:48 of the third period before scoring another into an empty net to close out the win before 4,932 at Stockton Arena.

The Reign (14-19-3-3) outshot the Thunder (16-16-2-3) and scored their first power-play goal since Dec. 30, but still suffered their third straight loss, and the 10th in their last 11 games.

O’Connor, who had been practicing in the top-tier German DEL before signing with the Reign earlier in the week, scored an unassisted goal at 6:48 of the second period, and a 5-on-4 goal at 4:58 of the third.

Goaltender Curtis Darling stopped 29 of 32 in the loss.

Bakersfield 2, Reign 1, SO.

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Greg Hogeboom scored in the second period, and Bakersfield tied it on a power-play goal in the third that was deflected in by Mathieu Aubin. 


In the shootout, Bakersfield’s Timo Pielmeier was perfect against four Reign shooters, while Sasha Pokulok and Aubin scored on Curtis Darling.


Right wing Sean O’Connor signed earlier in the day and made his debut for the Reign. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound power forward took a team-high five shots but was held scoreless. In 60 games last season for the Victoria Salmon Kings, O’Connor had 19 goals and 27 points.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.