ONTARIO, Calif.–There was a lot on the table for the Colorado Eagles. With a win over the Ontario Reign (LAK), the team could emerge with their first Pacific Division Championship title, a huge milestone in the franchise.

In addition, defenseman Jacob MacDonald has been waiting for the perfect opportunity to be written into the history books.

But, it would be a challenge to get there. Despite being one of the most dangerous teams in the American Hockey League, the Colorado Eagles struggle against the Ontario Reign no matter what they do.

Tonight was no different, and the difficulties came early. Walking into the final matchup between the two teams, the Eagles held a season record of  4–3–0–0. Ultimately, the Eagles fell to the Reign 4–2.

Takeaways

The game got off to a rough start, with the scoring opening only five minutes into the first period. A short two minutes later, the hole was dug and took almost 55 minutes to get out of.


The normally solid defensive team did not show up at their fullest potential. The Reign scored three goals by the end of the first period and didn’t slow down.

The goal deficit wasn’t solely Trent Miner’s fault. Despite his best efforts, the goaltender could not contain the offensive attack. The defensive team’s struggles to fill in the gaps led to easily avoidable goals scored from close range.

Making things more difficult was the shocking number of “should-have-been” goals favoring the Eagles. The puck seemed to bounce in every direction but the one to light the lamp. The Eagles outshot their opponent 15–5 in the second period alone, yet did not come up with a goal until the third period.

Both of Colorado’s goals were monumental, especially for Jacob MacDonald. Ahead of the game, he was one goal away from tying the record for most goals from a defenseman in one season, and two goals away from setting his own.

He broke open the scoring just over eight minutes into the third period to tie the record and scored again five minutes later to break it.

The Eagles could have written history in more than one way, but fell short on one when it came to securing the Division title, which they will have another opportunity to do.

Upcoming

The Colorado Eagles will make a trip to Tucson to face the Roadrunners on Friday and Saturday to close out the regular season. Games are available to be streamed on FloHockey.com.