EVANSVILLE, IN – By his own admission, Orlando Solar Bears head coach Anthony Noreen has yet to see his team play “a full sixty-minute game”. Judging by the results so far, when they learn how to do that, the ECHL’s eastern conference could be in trouble.
T.J. Foster netted his first professional hat trick Friday night (File photo courtesy of F. Medina & G. Bassing/Orlando Solar Bears)
Rookie T.J. Foster notched his first professional hat trick and added an assist to lead the Solar Bears (8-3-1-1, 18 points) to a 6-4 win over the Evansville IceMen in front of an announced crowd of 3,588 at the Ford Center. Eric Faille continued his hot scoring, netting two more goals and chipping in an assist for Orlando, which won its third straight road game and fourth in its last five overall.
Three days removed from a close shave in Greenville, the Solar Bears again hoped for a quick start. Faille provided it eight minutes into the first period when he weaved his way into shooting range and slid a backhander under IceMen goalie Dustin Carlson for his seventh goal of the season.
In need of a win at home, Evansville (3-9-0-0, 6 points) answered back at the 11:49 mark of the frame. Justin MacDonald saw Orlando starting goalie Ryan Massa pull ever so slightly off the post and fired a shot that hit the rookie netminder’s skate and snuck into the net. For MacDonald, it was his first score of the year.
On the very next shift, Foster took a feed from fellow rookie Adam Reid and picked the short side corner just under the crossbar on Carlson to put the visitors back in front. Reid’s helper on the play was his first professional point while the tally was number four on the season for Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Foster.
Foster opened the second frame with his second score of the game just 1:57 in. Instead of looking short side, this time he picked the corner on Carlson’s far side for the goal. It put Orlando up by two and ended Carlson’s night as Keegan Asmundson – who had spent part of training camp in Orlando before being traded to Evansville – came on in relief for IceMen coach Al Sims.
The move woke the Evansville team up. As Asmundson was stabilizing the defense, Daulton Leveille made a great individual effort to beat Massa at the 9:13 mark to pull the home team within one. Just 38 seconds later, Vincent Dunn found the back of the net for his third goal of the season and knotting the scoreboard at three.
The tie lasted less than five minuted before the IceMen game their fans something to really cheer about. Leveille got the puck to Tyson Fawcett who saw a shooting lane. His shot found its way through some traffic and beat Massa high to the blocker glove side to put Evansville in front.
The tally was Fawcett’s team-high sixth of the season. It also sent Massa to the bench as Noreen made the decision to replace the rookie netminder with Rob Madore. Almost immediately the move paid off as Madore stopped an odd-man rush that created a shot by MacDonald.
As the game moved into the final frame, it was still anybody’s contest. An early Evansville power play nearly resulted in a score but referee Andy Thackaberry ruled that a shot that got past Madore had hit the crossbar and did not go in.
Orlando finally got to Asmundson on a power play when the rebound of a Brady Vail (two assists in the game) went to Faille who banked it in off the goalie to tie the score. Faille’s second of the night broke the dam that Asmundson (14 saves) had built as Johnny McInnis turned some pretty tape-to-tape passing into his fourth goal of the season to put the Solar Bears back in front.
The lead grew back to two just fifteen seconds later when Carl Nielsen’s blast from the point was tipped in by Foster to complete his hat trick. From there, Madore (15 saves on 15 shots) held the IceMen at bay to earn the win.
Notes: Evansville finished the game outshooting Orlando 34-31…The Solar Bears killed off both power plays the IceMen had in the contest, running their streak to 13 successful kills on the road trip…Orlando power play connected once, marking the third straight contest with at least one man advantage score.
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