Solar Bears double up Railers 4-2

ORLANDO, Fla. – Martins Dzierkals scored a goal and added an assist as the Orlando Solar Bears (22-23-5-1) skated to a 4-2 win over the Worcester Railers (21-21-4-2) in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs on Thursday night at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center.

The Solar Bears remain in fourth place (50 points) in the South Division. Orlando sits five points behind Atlanta for third place, with two games in hand; The Solar Bears are ahead of fifth-place Greenville by six points with one more game played.

Click here for the box score.

SCORING SUMMARY

Orlando: Tayler Thompson (Mike Monfredo, Hunter Fejes), Martins Dzierkals, Kristian Pospisil (Joshua Winquist, J.J. Piccinich), Joe Perry (Chris Crane, Dzierkals)

Goaltender: Cal Heeter (29/31)

Worcester: Woody Hudson, Jeff Kubiak (T.J. Syner, Hudson)

Goaltender: Eamon McAdam (23/27), Mitch Gillam (15/15)

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Tayler Thompson opened the scoring at 4:31 of the first period with his fifth of the season.
• Martins Dzierkals stole the puck in the defensive zone from a Railers skater and broke out with Joe Perry for a 2-on-1 rush that ended in the rookie netting his 11th of the season at 15:24 to give the Solar Bears a 2-1 lead. Dzierkals also collected an assist on Joe Perry’s goal in the second period.
• Kristian Pospisil netted his 10th of the season to give Orlando a 3-1 lead at 2:38 of the second period.
• Joe Perry extended the Solar Bears lead to a 4-1 score with his 11th of the season at 3:30 to chase Worcester’s Eamon McAdam from the net.
• Mike Monfredo had the primary assist on Thompson’s tally.
• Hunter Fejes added the secondary assist on Thompson’s goal. Fejes now has four-game assist streak (5a).
• Joshua Winquist fed Pospisil for the one-timer to earn the primary assist.
• J.J. Piccinich picked up the secondary assist on Popisil’s goal, giving the rookie a two-game point streak (1g-1a).
• Chris Crane added an assist on Perry’s goal.
• Cal Heeter earned his 13th win of the season, making 29 saves on 31 shots against.

NOTABLES

• The victory gave head coach Drake Berehowsky his 81st career win with Orlando, moving him past Vince Williams for the most coaching victories in ECHL Solar Bears history. Berehowsky’s coaching record with Orlando now stands at 81-81-22 (.500) in 184 career games, also a franchise mark.
• The Solar Bears are now 10-0-0-0 in games in which Dzierkals scores a goal, and 5-0-0-0 in games in which the rookie has a multi-point performance.
• Hunter Fejes led Orlando with six shots on goal.
• The Solar Bears host the Worcester Railers in the second of three consecutive games on Friday, Feb. 16 at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center at 7 p.m. Single-game tickets for the 2017-18 season are now on sale at the Amway Center box office and ticketmaster.com.

THREE STARS1) Martins Dzierkals – ORL2) Tayler Thompson – ORL3) Cal Heeter – ORL

About the Orlando Solar Bears:

The Orlando Solar Bears are in their sixth season of operation in the ECHL, the premier “AA” hockey league in North America, and are the proud affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. The Solar Bears are owned and operated by the Orlando Magic and the DeVos Family, and play at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center, the 2012 Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal Sports Facility of the Year.

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Officially licensed Orlando Solar Bears replica team jerseys, apparel, and headwear can be purchased at orlandosolarbearshockey.com/shop.