The Orlando Solar Bears (17-14-3-0) took an early lead never surrendered, scoring three power play goals to defeat the South Carolina Stingrays (20-14-1-0) 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Amway Center.
Goaltender Gordon Defiel made 46 saves in a losing effort, while forward Andrew Cherniwchan scored his team-leading 19th goal of the season while SC was shorthanded in the third period.
Trevor Olson got Orlando going with a tally at 1:32 of the first period and added another while the Solar Bears were on the power play at 13:44. Orlando took a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the end of one frame, outshooting South Carolina 20-12.
The Stingrays rebounded in the second period to outshoot the Solar Bears 15-11, but neither team was able to get on the scoreboard in the middle frame.
While killing a penalty to defenseman Drew Baker, Cherniwchan found the back of the net with a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Orlando netminder Charlie Millen at 6:01 to get South Carolina on the board, 2-1. Assists on the goal went to defenseman Kevin McKernan and forward Tad Kozun.
But immediately after the shorthanded marker, John MacLeod took a five-minute major penalty for slew-footing. During the delayed call, Orlando’s Cody Donaghey knocked a rebound past Defiel to make it 3-1 at 6:23. Then on the ensuing power play, Mathieu Foget found the back of the net at 10:29 to stretch the Solar Bears lead to 4-1.
Orlando finished 3-for-4 on the man-advantage, while South Carolina ended at 0-for-4. Millen turned aside 38 shots in the win for the Solar Bears, who finished with a 50-39 shots-on-goal advantage in the contest.
South Carolina is back in action at the North Charleston Coliseum Friday night to face the Atlanta Gladiators on Wizarding World Night at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are on sale now!
To bring your group to the game and save, call the Stingrays Front Office at 843-744-2248! For single game tickets, visit ticketmaster.com.
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