Ontario Jr. Reign 2026 USPHL Premier National Championship Recap

The Ontario Jr. Reign traveled to Wayne, New Jersey where they competed in the 2026 USPHL Premier National Championship during the week of March 25-27, 2026. Their battle started off with a game against the Coral Springs Jr. Cats which was then followed by a rematch against the Fresno Monsters. The Ontario Jr. Reign then closed out their run with a game against the Hampton Roads Whalers. Read about what went down during the Ontario Jr. Reign’s 2026 USPHL Premier National Championship run! 

Game 1 | Wednesday, March 25, 2026 | Ontario Jr. Reign 5, Coral Springs Jr. Cats 3

Both teams had a slow start in their debuts as the score remained at a scoreless standstill by the end of the first period due to the stellar goaltending performances of Jr. Reign’s #29 Nicholas Perry and Jr. Cats #30 Nathan McAlpine (0-0). It wasn’t until a minute and five seconds into the second period when Jr. Reign’s #48 Marc Belanger broke the standstill and gave his team their first lead of this game (1-0). The Jr. Cats answered back quickly with a game-tying goal being scored by #94 Luke Thomilson a few minutes after the opening goal was scored (1-1). The Jr. Reign remained unfazed and were able to regain their one-goal lead while on the man-advantage as #19 Aiden Yi secured a power play goal midway through the second period (2-1). The Jr. Cats did not go down without a fight and made it a tied game, 2-2, going into the last period of regulation with a power play goal scored by #94 Luke Thomilson. The score remained tied until the Jr. Reign mustered back-to-back goals, scored by #26 Scott Whitecotton (1G) and #15 Walker Chitwood (1G), during the latter half of the third period (4-2). It took less than a minute for the Jr. Cats to make it a one-goal game with a goal scored by #98 Derek Hudson (4-3). Although the Jr. Cats made an admirable last push, their efforts ultimately fell short as Jr. Reign’s #17 Evan Tsadilas scored the final goal of this game and secured their 5-3 victory. This Jr. Reign win would not have been possible without the impressive goaltending of #29 Nicholas Perry who saved 31 out of 34 shots on goal by the end of regulation. The Jr. Cats’ loss does not take away from the commendable goaltending efforts of #30 Nathan McAlpine who saved 31 out of 36 shots on goal. After a strong performance during their 2026 USPHL Premier National Championship debut, the Ontario Jr. Reign found themselves with a one-game winning streak as they entered their rematch against the Fresno Monsters.  

Game 2 | Thursday, March 26, 2026 | Fresno Monsters 9, Ontario Jr. Reign 1 

Despite having a series of great scoring chances, the Jr. Reign struggled to get any pucks past the impressive goaltending of Monsters’ #32 Viktor Pasztor who maintained his teams’ 3-0 lead going into the second period of regulation. The three Monsters goals recorded during the first period were scored by #21 Erte (1G), #20 Vertti Sakko (1G), and #96 William Lindgren (1PPG). The Jr. Reign’s struggles continued into the second period which ended 8-0 in the Monsters’ favor with five unanswered goals scored by the following players: #96 Lindgren (2G), #25 Filipp Papshev (1G), #13 Andersen (1G), and 37 Connor Perdue (1PPG). This lead for the Monsters was later extended into a nine-goal lead when #15 Adrian Gomez opened up the last period of regulation (9-0). The Jr. Reign made a valiant last push during the remainder of the third period and avoided being shut out when #48 Belanger got his team their first point in this rematch. Although the Jr. Reign made a commendable attempt to cut their deficits, their efforts fell short as Monsters’ #32 Viktor Pasztor secured a 9-1 victory after saving 34 out of 35 shots on goal. When looking at the Jr. Reign’s goaltending, their tandem saved a total of 22 out of of 31 shots on goal which was comprised of #32 Makai Collins’ 10 out of 14 shots on goal and #29 Nicholas Perry’s 12 out of 17 shots on goal. The Ontario Jr. Reign found themselves eager for another win after facing their first loss in this tournament. 

Game 3 | Friday, March 27, 2026 | Hampton Roads Whalers 6, Ontario Jr. Reign 0

The Ontario Jr. Reign’s struggles continued into their last matchup of the tournament as they found themselves down by two goals when Whalers #94 Tommaso Koenig (1PPG) and #26 Emrik Homlund (1G) closed out the first period (2-0). The Whalers continued to dominate the Jr. Reign during the second period of regulation as they maintained puck possession and made it a 4-0 game with two unanswered goals scored by #26 Emrik Homlund (1G) and #94 Tommaso Koenig (1PPG). Despite regrouping and outshooting the Whalers, the Jr. Reign were unable to get any pucks past Whalers’ 1 Felix Tolke who secured his teams’ 6-0 shutout with two additional Whalers goals scored by #18 Preston Michels (1G) and #7 Nikita Zozulia (1G). In regards to goaltending, #1 Felix Tolke recorded his first shutout of the 2026 USPHL Premier Nationals Championship after he saved all 26 shots on goal that he faced by the end of this game. This Jr. Reign loss does not take away from the commendable in net performance of #29 Nicholas Perry who saved 49 out of 55 shots on goal. After another tough battle and unfortunate loss, the Ontario Jr. Reign’s championship run came to an end. 

Points Leaders and Goaltending Stats

Ontario Jr. Reign

• Points leader: #11 Mason Welsh (2A), #19 Aiden Yi (1G,1 A), and #48 Marc Belanger (2G) ended their 2026 USPHL Premier National Championship run with 2 points recorded

• Goals leader: #48 Marc Belanger led the team with 2 goals recorded 

• Assists leader: #11 Mason Welsh led the team with 2 assists recorded 

• Goaltending: The Jr. Reign’s goaltending tandem saved a total of 102 out of 120 shots on goal (SOG) which was comprised of #29 Nicholas Perry’s 92/106 SOG and #32 Makai Collins’ 10/14 SOG. 

Overall Stats

The Ontario Jr. Reign accumulated 6 goals, 97 shots on goal, and 96 penalty minutes within their three games against the Coral Springs Jr. Cats, Fresno Monsters, and the Hampton Roads Whalers. During their three total games played, the Ontario Jr. Reign ended with a 7.15% power play success rate and a 75.0% penalty kill success rate. 

Although the Ontario Jr. Reign’s 2026 USPHL Premier National Championship run was cut short, their losses during the latter half of the tournament does not take away from their remarkable performances during the regular season and playoffs. The Ontario Jr. Reign are still the 2025-26 Pacific Division Champions despite not getting the ending they wanted during Nationals. After all of their hard-fought battles, the Ontario Jr. Reign should be proud of what they have accomplished and can accomplish in the future! 

Stay tuned for the coverage of the 2026-27 regular season in the USPHL Pacific Division!