Brenden Miller picked up his third goal of the season Thursday night (Photo courtesy of F. Medina & G. Bassing/Orlando Solar Bears)
ORLANDO, FLA – Riding the high of a 5-1 road trip, the Orlando Solar Beats returned home confident that it could duplicate its success on the road at the Amway Center. Unfortunately for them and the announced crowd of 5,509, Ryan Lomberg and the Adirondack Thunder were not willing to go along with the plan.
Lomberg scored four goals – the first four of the game in fact – as the Thunder (35-21-2-4, 76 points) dominated the Solar Bears (28-24-3/5, 64 points) by a final of 6-2. Lomberg along with linemates Peter MacArthur and Louick Marcotte accounted for ten points in the contest while racking up an aggregate plus-11 rating.
Only third period goals by Brenden Miller on a power play and Johnny McInnis kept the night from being a total loss for Orlando. It also overshadowed the professional debuts of Chris Bradley and Brian Christie who were added to the Solar Bears roster in the last two days.
“Obviously [on] the road trip we did what we needed to do. We did what was expected. We worked our rear ends off the whole time and earned those points. [I was] very disappointed to come back here and have that [kind of] performance tonight,” Solar Bears head coach Anthony Noreen said. “It had nothing to do with anything with our structure or anything like that. I just think it was a little bit of road trip hangover or whatever you want to call it. Bottom line, you’re a pro hockey player. We’ve got to do whatever we can to take care of ourselves. It was evident from the first shift…we didn’t have it tonight.”
Despite having to travel south, the Thunder appeared to have their game legs from the get go. They pounded Orlando goalie Rob Madore and the Solar Bears defense, continually pinning the home team in its own end. The Solar Bears recorded four shots of their own on Adirondack netminder Drew Fielding in the first five minutes of the opening period but finished the frame with just five to Adirondack’s 21.
Lomberg, who increased his season’s goal output by 25 percent in the game, began his demolition of the Solar Bears late in the first. After taking a pass from MacArthur in the slot, his first shot was blocked but he regained control and slid the puck under Madore’s pads. Goal number two came just over two minutes later on a power play when he took a feed in the slot, made a quick pivot and beat Madore for his 14th of the year.
Lomberg completed the hat trick 11:19 into the second period, converting a wrap around the back of the net that Madore nearly got to. It was the lone score of a much more evenly played stanza that saw Fielding deny Orlando’s Erik Bradford on a clean breakaway and turn away a double deflected shot with the toe of his right skate.
The Lomberg-MacArthur-Marcotte show completed its run 4:27 into the third when Marcotte set up Lomberg for his fourth of the night and 16th of the season. Marcotte’s assist was his second of the game while MacArthur’s helper was his fourth of the contest.
“Obviously my linemates put it right on my tape tonight. When they put it right on your tape in a good spot that obviously helps a lot,” Lomberg said. “[Give] credit to all of them. Without them obviously I wouldn’t have gotten any of them. It was awesome.”
When one-time Solar Bear Alexandre Carrier finished off a pass from Terrence Wallin on an odd-man rush with his fourth of the season, Adirondack had a five goal cushion. At that point, the outcome was very close to being decided despite there being fourteen minutes left.
The Solar Bears dug in, getting on the board at the 11:55 mark when Miller’s blast from the point beat Fielding (24 saves) for a power play goal. When McInnis netted his 16th of the year at 16:45, the lead was down to 5-2, giving the home fans a glimmer of hope.
Noreen pulled Madore (39 saves) with 2:29 left, hoping that an extra attacker might be able to get the Solar Bears closer. Mathieu Brodeur put the final nail in Orlando’s coffin with an empty net goal from inside his defensive zone with less than a minute to go to seal the victory.
Miller said that after the success the team had on the road trip, Thursday’s loss was a huge disappointment.
“It’s tough to come home and lose. I don’t want to say it was from a lack of effort because we played hard for the last period and a half there,” Miller said. “We’ve got to play for a full sixty [minutes] like we have been on the road. We’ve been struggling to do that at home. There are a couple of home games left here (three in the current home stand, six overall) and hopefully we can buckle down and play like we have been on the road.”
As for Bradley, who was signed to an amateur tryout contract after completing his career at RPI, he said felt honored to get his first pro game under his belt. He finished the game with one shot on net and an even zero rating.
“Obviously it was the end of my college career. I didn’t want it to happen but it did. All good things come to an end. I had a blast there” Bradley said. “It’s time to move on and I’m just honored to have the opportunity to be down here.”
The two team will continue their three-game series Saturday at 7 pm at the Amway Center. It will be preceded by the Solar Bears annual celebrity charity game featuring former ECHL Orlando players Jake Cepis, Eddie Levens and Ian Slater skating alongside amateur players and former IHL Solar Bear Allan Bester coaching one of the teams. The celebrity game starts at 3:30 pm.
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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