Solar Bears drop weekend opener to Growlers, 5-1

ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland – The Orlando Solar Bears (31-21-4-0) opened their first-ever visit to Atlantic Canada with a 5-1 loss to the Newfoundland Growlers (39-16-4-0) on Friday night at Mile One Centre.

Click here for the box score.

Mathieu Foget opened the scoring at 6:32 of the first period when Mitch Hults intercepted a Growlers clearing attempt along the right wing boards and found Chris LeBlanc in the slot, who dished the puck over to Foget at the right side of the net, allowing the rookie to bury his 17th of the season past Michael Garteig.

Scott Pooley tied the score at 1-1 at 11:49 with a power-play score as he buried a back-door feed from Marcus Power past Connor Ingram.

Newfoundland pulled ahead with another power-play goal in the second period, as Power beat Ingram at 13:39 to make it 2-1 in favor of the hosts.

The Growlers extended their lead to 3-1 at 14:20 when Brady Ferguson buried a shot from between the hash marks.

Pooley netted his second goal of the evening on the man advantage at 10:36 of the third period when he one-timed a shot from the left circle.

Ferguson capped the scoring at 19:31 with a redirected goal that came off a pass from Corey Dunn.

Ingram took the loss with a 37-save effort on 42 shots against; Garteig picked up the win for Newfoundland with 24 stops on 25 shots against.

THREE STARS1) Scott Pooley – NFL2) Ryan Moore – NFL3) Brady Ferguson – NFL

NEXT GAMES: The Solar Bears continue their series with the Growlers at Mile One Centre on Saturday, March 9 at 5:30 p.m. EST. The Solar Bears return home on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. for a Wine Down Wednesday against the Florida Everblades, featuring $5 wine specials throughout the game. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.

2019-20 Season Ticket Memberships on Sale Now:

Upgrade to Solar Status and become a Season Ticket Member today. Season ticket memberships for the 2019-20 season are now on sale and start as little as $270 – CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

2018-19 Season Presented by XYMOPrint:

The Orlando Solar Bears are proud to have local digital printing experts XYMOPrint as the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 season. As a special offer, fans who call XYMOPrint at (888) 223-9390 from now until June 15, 2019 and reference the Solar Bears will receive 30% off their first order of 500 business cards.

2018-19 Single-Game Tickets Now on Sale:

Single-game tickets for the Orlando Solar Bears 2018-19 regular season home schedule are now on sale. Fans can purchase single-game tickets for as little as $15 at the Amway Center box office, or online at Ticketmaster.com.

About the Orlando Solar Bears:

The Orlando Solar Bears are the proud affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and members of the ECHL, the premier “AA” hockey league in North America. In six seasons of operation, the team has qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs four times. 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.

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