Record rally gives Solar Bears 6-3 win over Stingrays

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — After trailing 3-0 late in the first period, the Orlando Solar Bears (20-13-3-1) reeled off six unanswered goals to seize a 6-3 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays (15-13-6-2) on Friday night at North Charleston Coliseum to open the second half of the 2020-21 season. The win was Orlando’s third straight victory, and was the most decisive rally for Orlando when facing a three-goal deficit in team history.

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The Stingrays received goals from Brett Supinski (8:50), Justin Florek (10:23) and Cameron Askew (14:06) to put Orlando in a three-goal deficit, but Kyle Topping stopped the bleeding with his fourth of the season at 14:06.

J.J. Piccinich picked up the scoring early in the second frame, potting his sixth of the season just 1:30 into the middle stanza, and Topping buried his second of the evening with a shot from the left circle for a power-play goal at 12:49.

Tristin Langan gave Orlando its first lead of the night with a shorthanded goal at 4:29 for his 10th of the season, and added a second goal at 8:29 to put the Solar Bears in the driver’s seat.

Jerry D’Amigo capped the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:48 for his seventh of the season.

Clint Windsor earned his 10th victory of the season with a 31-for-34 night; Hunter Shepard took the loss with 37 stops on 42 shots against.

THREE STARS:1) Tristin Langan - ORL2) Kyle Topping - ORL3) Brett Supinski - SC

NOTABLES:

• The Solar Bears are now 3-0-0-0 against South Carolina this season
• Orlando matched its previous season-high for shots with 43 (Last: Jan. 31 vs. South Carolina, 4-1 W)
• The victory marked the fifth time in team history that the club had a losing margin of three goals in a win, with the last taking place on Nov. 19, 2017 (7-6 W vs. Greenville)
• Langan finished the night with three points (2g-1a); his two goals matched his previous career-high
• Topping now has a three-game goal-scoring streak (4g)
• Anthony Repaci had a career-high three-point night, dishing out assists on Piccinich’s goal, along with both of Topping and Langan’s second tallies
• D’Amigo collected two points (1g-1a) in his first game since March 13 at Florida
• The win was the eighth time Orlando has won a game this season after surrendering the first goal (8-12-1-0)  

NEXT GAME:

The Solar Bears battle the South Carolina Stingrays again at North Charleston Coliseum on Saturday, March 27 at 6:05 p.m. The Solar Bears are back home when they host Burrito Day Bash, presented by Qdoba, against the Florida Everblades at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center on Thursday, April 1 p.m. at 7 p.m.