Solar Bears drop 4-2 decision to Stingrays

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – A slow start in the first period felled the Orlando Solar Bears (4-4-1-0) in a 4-2 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays (5-2-0-0) on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.

South Carolina built a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period, with Justin Florek (2g-1a) factoring in all three goals.

Orlando got on the board in the second period when Tyler Bird scored twice to make it a one-goal game. The Solar Bears outshot the Stingrays 18-8 in the second period and and put up a season-high 38 shots on goal for the evening, but Stingrays goaltender Cedrick Andree shut the door on Orlando following Bird’s pair of goals, and South Carolina added an empty-net tally late in the third frame to seal the game.

BOX SCORE

1st PeriodSC Goal: Justin Florek (3) [PP] at 4:31. Assisted by Andrew Cherniwchan and Jordan Subban.SC Goal: Jordan Subban (3) at 5:55. Assisted by Jade Miller and Justin Florek.SC Goal: Justin Florek (4) at 18:05. Assisted by Patrick Holway and Jade Miller.SHOTS: ORL 11, SC 12

2nd PeriodORL Goal: Tyler Bird (3) at 6:07. Assisted by Michael BrodzinskiORL Goal: Tyler Bird (4) at 9:35. Assisted by Aaron Luchuk and Montana Onyebuchi.SHOTS: ORL 18, SC 9

3rd PeriodSC Goal: Connor Moore (1) [EN] at 18:57.SHOTS: ORL 9, SC 10

GoaltendingORL: Stefanos Lekkas, 26-for-29SC: Cedrick Andree, 36-for-38

NOTABLES:

• Bird matched his previous career-high single-game output of two goals for the third time in his career; the last occurrence was on March 27, 2021 at South Carolina.
• Aaron Luchuk’s assist on Bird’s second goal extended Luchuk’s point streak to nine games (7g-9a) to begin the year; his 16 points lead the ECHL in scoring.
• Stefanos Lekkas got the start in net to make his Solar Bears debut after his acquisition from Fort Wayne earlier this week.
• The Solar Bears did not have an opportunity with the man advantage for the game, the second occurrence this season.  

NEXT GAME: The Solar Bears close out the weekend against the South Carolina Stingrays on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 3:05 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum. Orlando is back on home ice to take on the Maine Mariners on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at the AdventHealth Rink at Amway Center.