ORLANDO, FLA – When Orlando Solar Bears goalie Ryan Massa joined the Bismarck (N.D.) Bobcats NAHL team in 2009, he made quick friends with a fellow goalie named Ryan Faragher. Even after Massa was traded and the friends became college opponents (Faragher at St. Cloud State, Massa at Nebraska-Omaha), the pair remained friends. Last Friday, Massa and Faragher met for the first time in the pros when the Solar Bears hosted Faragher’s Utah Grizzlies in a contest won by Massa.
Ryan Massa (center) battles Utah’s Michael Pelech (27, white) for the puck during Sunday’s game. (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Sunday afternoon, the Utah netminder got his revenge in a rather impressive manner.
Led by Faragher’s 39 save effort, the visiting Grizzlies (29-25-5-2, 65 points) shut out the host Solar Bears (30-21-6-3, 69 points) 2-0 in front of an announced crowd of 6,653 at the Amway Center. Travis Howe and Colin Martin netted a goal apiece for Utah, which earned a split of the weekend series.
Orlando missed an opportunity to gain ground in the race for spots in the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs as both Greenville (in front of the Solar Bears in second in the South division) and South Carolina (fifth place but only two points behind Orlando) both lost.
As good as Massa was when he blanked his friend and the rest of the Grizzlies on Friday, Faragher was that good in holding the Solar Bears scoreless for the first time during the 2016-17 season. It was an effort that even a losing goalie could appreciate.
“If it’s going to be another guy that gets that [shutout against him], it’s certainly nice to have a friend that you know that plays like that and gets the win in that manner,” Massa said. “It’s hard to get shutouts in this league period so I definitely tip my hat to Feds [Faragher] tonight. I thought he played a great game.”
On Friday, the Solar Bears put the Grizzlies back on their heels with a quick start off the opening faceoff. Sunday was a complete 180 as Utah was the team that came out to start the contest with hard push. The aggressive attack paid almost immediate dividends as the visitors opened the scoring just 1:29 into the first period. It came when Austen Brassard moved the puck down low to teammate C.J. Eick who was standing near the goal line to Massa’s left. Eick mad a quick diagonal pass across the low slot area to the backside of the play where Howe was standing unmarked by a defender. Howe one-timed the feed into the open side of the net for his second goal of the season and sent a message that the Grizzlies meant business.
Utah had several golden opportunities in the first five minutes of the first frame but just missed increasing the lead. Shortly after the Howe score, Mathieu Aubin rang a shot off the post and not too long after, Erik Higby split the Solar Bears defense and brokein alone only to see Massa come up with a huge save.
While Massa was keeping his team in the game, Faragher faced a modest number of shots on net after Orlando got its bearings. More often than not, however, the chances went astray as shots missed the net on several occasions – which was the case in two instances when Tony Cameranesi had attempts that looked dangerous until the shots sailed on him. At the end of the stanza, Utah had outshot Orlando 14-11 and had a 1-0 lead.
“It took us at least five minutes to get our legs. You saw that they had eight or nine shots in the first five minutes and after that we were able to start generating the way we want to,” Orlando head coach Drake Berehowsky said.
Utah had a perfect opportunity to double its lead at the start of the second period when Orlando’s Daniel Maggio and Eric Faille found themselves in the penalty box, giving the Grizzles a five-on-three power play. Just as Maggio stepped back onto the ice, Cam Reid found Colin Martin standing alone near the left post. Martin spun around and slid the puck between Massa’s legs for his 19th of the season at the 1:19 mark.
As the Solar Bears upped their level of compete and started finding the range with shots, Faragher seemed to focus in even harder. He made a great left pad save on a turnaround shot from the slot by Shane Conacher and a little later committed highway robbery on Justin Buzzeo.
Orlando’s Daniel Maggio (left) and Utah’s Travis Howe engaged in a spirited fight during the second period on Sunday (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Orlando’s frustration started to show midway through the game as the intensity and hitting ramped up, threatening to push things to another level. Things came to a head when Solar Bears defenseman Taylor Doherty and Utah’s Gabriel Verpaelst got into it in front of the Orlando bench with both drawing double minors for roughing. Twenty-eight seconds later off a faceoff in the Grizzlies end, Maggio and Howe dropped the gloves and went at it in a true heavyweight bout with big blows being landed back and forth before the combatants tumbled to the ice.
The Solar Bears won the period, outshooting the Grizzlies 15-6, but still trailed 2-0 heading to the third.
Orlando started the final frame intent of staging a comeback, firing off the first shots of the period but Faragher had a brick wall built in front of his net. At the other end, Massa was doing his part, making all the saves he needed to make to give the Solar Bears a chance.
The home team was handed a huge change to get back into the game with 8:35 left when penalties to Reid and Verpaelst created a two-man advantage for the Solar Bears. The Grizzlies defenders somehow managed to shut down the shooting lanes during the five-on-three and later the remaining five-on-four time to maintain their lead.
“I liked the way the puck worked [moved] but we have to be able to set ourselves up and put ourselves into seams where we can shoot through the seams,” Berehowsky said about the missed opportunity. “We have to do a better job of that. We’ll work on that this week in practice.”
Orlando hurt itself in the final five minutes, taking a pair of ill-advised penalties that allowed Utah to run time off the clock and insure itself and Faragher the victory.
With every game and every point having a major impact on the standings, the loss was painful to take – especially with a nine-game road trip that starts Friday in Estero against the Florida Everblades looming. Captain Eric Baier said that Sunday’s defeat has already been put in the rearview mirror because the team has to be ready to play come the weekend.
“There’s not time to dwell on losses. All you can do is learn from the mistakes that we’ve made and keep on growing. It’s a never-ending process of growing,” Baier said. “I think we’re playing well at this point. The compete level is up – that’s what we need at this point. It’s not necessarily about x’s and o’s now. It’s how you come out, compete, [be] prepared, all that stuff and your effort level as a team, putting the team before you and before individuals. That’s how its got to be.”
Notes: Massa, who finished with 23 saves, saw his shutout streak stopped at 158:39… Utah’s power play finished the game 1-for-7 while Orlando went 0-for-5… The Solar Bears will visit Florida, Adirondack, Brampton and South Carolina before coming back to Orlando on April 5th to face the Everblades at the Amway Center. They will finish their home schedule on Friday, April 7th before the regular season finale in Estero on April 8th.
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