Cole Ully scored his 12th goal of the season in the third period to start a comeback, but the South Carolina Stingrays (44-14-3-1) were unable to get any closer and fell to the Orlando Solar Bears (27-29-5-1) by a final score of 3-1 on Wednesday night in the final game of the season series between the two clubs at the Amway Center.
Goaltender Parker Milner got the start and made 32 saves in a losing effort for the Rays, while Orlando’s Clint Windsor earned the win for the home team with 26 stops.
Former SC forward Tad Kozun got the Solar Bears out in front first by scoring on the power play at 16:38 of the opening frame to make it 1-0.
Chris LeBlanc scored the only goal of the middle period for Orlando and made it 2-0 when he converted on a shorthanded breakaway to extend the advantage at 17:38.
Down by a pair entering the final frame, Ully scored for South Carolina at 3:16 on a backhand shot through Windsor’s five-hole to cut the Solar Bears’ lead to 2-1. The tally came with assists from his linemates Dan DeSalvo and Cam Askew.
But the Stingrays were unable to get any closer in the final minutes despite mustering 13 shots on net in the third, their highest number in any period of Wednesday’s game.
An empty-net goal by Trevor Olson with 14 seconds remaining sealed the Rays’ fate and gave the Solar Bears their second regulation win over SC during the 2019-20 season.
Orlando finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while South Carolina ended at 0-for-2 on the man-advantage. The Solar Bears had the edge in shots on goal, 35-27.
NEXT GAMEThe Stingrays are back in action on Saturday night to begin a weekend home-and-home series against the Jacksonville Icemen at the Veterans Memorial Arena at 7 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum at 3:05.
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