ORLANDO, F.L. – The South Carolina Stingrays (3-4-1-0) fell to the Orlando Solar Bears (4-3-0-1) 3-1 on Tuesday morning. They were outshot 36 to 29, and Mitchell Gibson made 33 saves in the loss.
There was no scoring in the opening period. Each team had a power play opportunity but failed to cash in. Shots were 13-12 in favor of South Carolina.
Tyson Empey struck first for the Stingrays with a shorthanded tally just 1:48 into the second period. Connor Moore brought the puck down the right wing and centered it to Empey, who chipped it past Orlando netminder Colten Ellis for his third goal of the season.
Orlando had three power plays in the second period, but the Stingrays killed off all of them. Zachary Massicotte evened the score for Orlando 16:07 into the second period when he crashed the net off the rush and backhanded the puck into an open net before Gibson could get across.
The third period went scoreless until Orlando’s Steven Jandric tallied his team-leading fifth goal of the season with 1:32 to go in the game. Jandric collected a feed from his linemate, Mitchell Hoelscher, and drove towards the net. He deeked from his backhand to his forehand and slid the puck past Gibson to put the Solar Bears ahead 2-1.
Brayden Low iced the game for Orlando with an empty net goal with 22 seconds remaining.
The Stingrays will head home for a Friday night matchup against the Atlanta Gladiators at the North Charleston Coliseum. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.
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