ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Solar Bears (11-9-2-0) suffered a 7-4 loss to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (10-14-3-0) on Sunday afternoon at the ARS.com Rink at Amway Center.
Despite an early power play, the Solar Bears gave up a shorthanded goal to the Swamp Rabbits when Chris Izmerlian fed Stephen Pierog from the right circle, and the Greenville forward beat Corbin Boes just 57 seconds into the contest.
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Cody Donaghey tied the score for Orlando when he stripped a Greenville player of the puck at the Swamp Rabbits blue line and wristed a shot past Chris Nell at 4:17. The defenseman has scored a goal in three straight games for the Solar Bears.
Greenville took a 2-1 lead late in the frame when Chad Duchesne’s shot from the left point beat Boes high to the glove side at 15:56.
Otto Somppi tied the score at 2-2 at 7:24 of the second period. The forward earned his first pro goal after Brent Pedersen poked the puck to Somppi in front of the Orlando bench, and Somppi made his way to the right circle before snapping a shot through the legs of Nell.
Mathieu Foget gave the Solar Bears their lone lead of the afternoon at 11:16 after Tayler Thompson retrieved the puck at the side of the net, allowing Mitch Hults to put a shot on goal, and Foget buried the rebound.
Orlando’s lead lasted for less than a minute and a half, as Johno May knocked in a bouncing puck past Boes at 12:40.
The Swamp Rabbits pulled ahead at the 15-minute mark when Thomas Ebbing snapped a shot past Boes, prompting the Solar Bears to replace the netminder with Hayden Stewart. Boes finished the day with 10 saves on 15 shots against.
Austen Brassard extended Greenville’s lead to two goals with a tally at 16:17. May tallied his second of the game at 1:22 of the third period with the man advantage to make it 6-3 in favor of the visitors.
Brent Pedersen netted a power-play goal for Orlando after he redirected Michael Brodzinski’s shot from the blue line past Nell at 13:40, but Michael Pelech put the game out of reach for Orlando at 14:51 to cap the scoring.
Stewart took the loss with eight saves on 11 shots against after relieving Boes; Nell earned the victory with 35 stops on 39 shots against.
NOTABLES
• Hults’ assist on Foget’s goal gives the forward a three-game assist streak (3a). He also led Orlando with a +3.
• Tammela led the Solar Bears with eight shots on goal.
THREE STARS
1) Johno May – GRN
2) Michael Pelech – GRN
3) Chad Duchesne – GRN