Ziemmer’s Hat Trick Lifts Ontario Over Bakersfield Again, Reign Hold Top Spot in Pacific
ONTARIO, Calif. - Back-to-back games. Back-to-back wins. And now, back on top.
Less than 24 hours after edging out the Bakersfield Condors on the road, the Ontario Reign returned home and delivered another 4-3 victory - this time with a little more flair. The win not only improves Ontario’s record to 31-14-1-1 (64 points) but also cements their grip on first place in the Pacific Division.
And the star of the night? A 19-year-old forward who just put the league on notice.
Koehn Ziemmer, take a bow.
Ziemmer scored three straight goals - his first career hat trick - and became the first Reign player to notch one since 2024. And it wasn’t just the goals. It was the timing, the poise, and the sense that the kid was taking a big step forward in his development.
“I think I’ve been growing my game a lot,” Ziemmer said postgame. “And I think tonight kind of showed what I’m capable of.”
Ontario needed every bit of that firepower. Bakersfield came out swinging, clearly still stinging from the previous night’s loss. The Condors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with quick strikes from Riley Stillman and James Hamblin - both goals coming within a two-minute span that had the Reign scrambling early.
Ontario cut the deficit in half on the power play, with Cole Guttman burying his 17th of the season off a slick feed from Nikita Alexandrov. But Bakersfield wasn’t done. Damien Carfagna added a third goal before the end of the first, sending the Reign into the intermission down 3-1 and needing a response.
They got one.
“The second and third was our way,” said head coach Andrew Lord. “Playing fast, playing behind them - on the forecheck, on the cycle. I thought our group was really relentless and the shot volume was there, the traffic was there…”
Then Lord cracked a smile.
“…And then Ziemmer was there.”
Ziemmer’s first goal came early in the second period - just 2:40 in - and it was the spark Ontario needed. He added two more in the third, completing the hat trick and flipping the script on a night that had started with the Reign on their heels.
It was a gritty, come-from-behind win, the kind that builds confidence in February and pays dividends in April. Ontario has now won three straight and holds a 5-1-0 record against Bakersfield this season - a key edge in what’s shaping up to be a tight race in the Pacific.
Goaltender Pheonix Copley turned aside 18 shots, steadying the ship when things got dicey early. Ontario outshot Bakersfield 31-21, controlling the pace for much of the final two periods. Special teams were a mixed bag: the Reign went 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Condors came up empty on all three of their chances.
But the story of the night was Ziemmer - a young forward turning potential into production, and doing it when his team needed him most.
With the win, Ontario keeps the momentum rolling and sends a clear message to the rest of the division: the Reign are not just winning - they’re growing, and they’re getting dangerous.