Rooney and Hebig Score as Roadrunners Split Weekend in Ontario
AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Rooney and Hebig Score as Roadrunners Split Weekend in Ontario

Published on October 12, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Ontario, CA - After a promising start, the Tucson Roadrunners fell 4-2 to the Ontario Reign on Sunday to split the weekend series. Tucson built 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but the Reign scored three unanswered goals to secure the series split at Toyota Arena.

Forward Kevin Rooney scored for the second straight game on a two-on-one rush to put the Roadrunners on the board early in the first period. Rookie Daniil But notched the primary assist on the play, marking his first AHL point in just his second career game. Sammy Walker added the secondary helper for his team-leading fourth point of the season.

After Ontario's Akil Thomas tied the game late in the opening frame, assistant captain Cameron Hebig regained Tucson's lead just over a minute into the second period with his first goal of the year on the power play. Michal Kunc recorded his first assist with Tucson on the play, while Ben McCartney also tallied an assist for his third point of the season.

Ontario's Joe Hicketts tied the game midway through the second period before Otto Salin gave the Reign their first lead of the night with two minutes remaining in the frame. Martin Chromiak's power-play goal five minutes into the third period doubled Ontario's advantage and capped the scoring.

Roadrunners goaltender Jaxson Stauber stopped 23 of 27 shots in his debut start of the season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Walker is one of just eight players across the AHL to record a league-high four points through the league's opening weekend.

Walker's 11 shots through the first two games of the season is tied for the league lead with Henderson's Lukas Cormier.

Kevin Rooney opened the scoring for Tucson in the first period and now has two goals in his first two games as a Roadrunner.

Dating back to the end of the 2024-25 regular season, Hebig has scored in 3 of his last four regular-season games, with four goals in that span.

Four Roadrunners have opened the season with points in each of the team's first two games (Rooney, Walker, McCartney and Hebig).

The Roadrunners have scored a power-play goal in each of the first two games of the season and is 3 for 8 overall. Tucson's power play ranks 6th in the AHL (37.5%).

Roadrunners forward Miko Matikka was one of three Roadrunners to record a team-high three shots in Sunday's series finale against the Ontario Reign at Toyota Arena. (photo/Ontario Reign)

THE RUNDOWN

FIRST PERIOD

Tucson's defensive structure didn't allow the Reign to record a shot on net until just before the five-minute mark, when Stauber robbed the Reign's Taylor Ward's one-timer with his glove to keep it a scoreless game.

The deadlock didn't last long. For the second straight game, the Roadrunners struck first early in the opening frame. On a crisp tic-tac-toe sequence entering the Ontario zone, Rooney buried a one-timer from But and Walker at 6:21 to make it 1-0. Walker fed But down low, and the 20-year-old rookie slid a cross-crease pass to Rooney for the tap-in finish.

But wasn't the only young Roadrunner showing offensive spark early. Second-year forward Miko Matikka generated a pair of high-danger chances, including a one-timer that clanged off the post early in the period during Tucson's first power play.

Tucson's sustained pressure helped the Roadrunners earn three power-play opportunities in the first but couldn't extend its lead on the man advantage.

On the other side, Ontario went scoreless on its lone man advantage late in the frame. The Reign eventually found the equalizer when Akil Thomas beat Stauber with 3:46 remaining to even the score 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

SECOND PERIOD

Last season's leading scorer, Hebig, wasted no time getting on the board in 2025-26. Just over a minute into the middle frame, Hebig battled his way to the crease and slipped home a power-play goal to give Tucson a 2-1 lead - his first of the year and the Roadrunners' second straight game with a power-play tally.

Both teams traded chances through the middle of the period, with Stauber and Erik Portillo trading impressive saves at each end. Hicketts tied the game at 2-2 midway through the period with a blast past Stauber.

Stauber came up big again late in the frame, turning aside back-to-back Reign breakaways with stellar right-pad and glove saves just 35 seconds apart. However, Ontario broke through on their third attempt as Salin snuck a shot past Stauber's five-hole to give the Reign a 3-2 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

The Reign carried the momentum to the horn, as Tucson headed to the locker room down 3-2 and on the penalty kill to start the third.

THIRD PERIOD

The Roadrunners opened the final frame by killing off Ontario's carryover power play from the end of the second period. However, the Reign capitalized on their next opportunity Chromiak buried a one-timer from Joe Hicketts on the power play at the five-minute mark to extend Ontario's lead to 4-2.

UP NEXT

The Roadrunners will return home for a six-game homestand at Tucson Arena, starting with the team's home opener against the Calgary Wranglers on Saturday, Oct. 18. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. MST. Tickets can be purchased. Fans can listen to the games live on FOX Sports 1450 AM and the iHeartRadio app and watch on AHLtv on FloHockey.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from October 12, 2025


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