ORLANDO, FLA – On Sunday afternoon, the Orlando Solar Bears put forth what many hoped was a corner-turning effort in beating the Atlanta Gladiators at the Amway Center. Sitting at 6-6 at home after beating the Gladiators, Head Coach Drake Berehowsky wanted to see his team pull above the .500 mark on home ice by playing its game and progressing in a positive direction.
Defenseman Michael Brodzinski scored one of Orlando’s two goals Monday night (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
What he and the 3,562 fans gathered got, however, was something that was for the most part less than thrilling and far from what the coach envisioned.
Led by two goals by Andrew Cherniwchan and multi-point efforts from three others, the visiting Stingrays (17-11-0-0) came away with a 5-2 win over the Solar Bears (13-10-2-0). Michael Brodzinski and Mathieu Foget both scored for Orlando in a third period attempt for a comeback but it fell short thanks to a pair of empty net tallies by South Carolina in the closing minutes.
“I don’t think we played very well. We didn’t execute. We were soft on pucks. We were soft on the body [and] too many turnovers, too many fancy plays” Berehowsky said following the contest. “You’re not going to win that way. The guys have to understand that and it’s my responsibility to make sure they do.”
Neither team seemed to be in the mood to be playing when the puck hit the ice to open the first period. The Solar Bears appeared to be in an even bigger rut than the Stingrays as Orlando was not credited for a shot on South Carolina goalie Angus Redmond until there was 7:20 in the frame. Even with a pair of power plays, the visitors fared only slightly better against the Solar Bears and netminder Martin Ouellette as the Stingrays finished the stanza with an 8-5 shot advantage but neither side found the back of the net.
The scoreless tie was finally broken by the Stingrays 7:17 into the middle frame. It came during a power play when a cross crease pass by Shane Eiserman was slowed by Ouellette but not completely stopped. The puck found its way to Matt Pohlkamp who jammed it between the post and Ouellette’s body for his eighth goal of the season.
South Carolina stretched its lead to two with less than four minutes remaining before the second intermission. Jonathan Charbonneau got the puck to Cherniwchan who was above the face-off circle to Ouellette’s left. He took a couple more strides and drilled a shot low to the far side past the goalie’s right leg for his 11th of the year.
With 21.3 ticks left on the clock in the period, South Carolina captain Joey Leach drove Orlando’s Corey Kalk head first into the boards, drawing a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct. A roughing call against Solar Bears forward Colby McAuley who challenged Leach left each team down a man as the game headed into the third with the Stingrays up 2-0.
Orlando’s Corey Kalk (right) lines up against South Carolina’s Tad Kozun during Monday night’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
“They [South Carolina] were just playing simple. We didn’t stick to the [our] system of getting pucks in and owning their zone, we didn’t get shots on net” McAuley, who was returning to the lineup after being out with an injury, said about why the Solar Bears found the going tough.”Little things add up and look what happened.”
Whatever was said in the Orlando locker room during the break, it hit the nail on the head. The Solar Bears came out with a different attitude and when Cherniwchan took an early penalty, it allowed the home team to play with a 5-on-3 man advantage.
Foaming at the mouth with a chance to get back into the game, the Solar Bears cashed in when off of a face-off, Cody Donaghey crossed the puck along the blue line to Brodzinski. Using Alex Schoenborn as a screen, Brodizinski loaded up and nailed a shot that beat Redmond to the top corner of the net for his fifth of the season.
“Five-on-threes are always huge. If you score on a five-on-three, you’ve got a really good chance to come back in the game,” Brodzinski said. “Especially only being down by two, getting that goal was huge but unfortunately we couldn’t close it out.”
Cherniwchan answered back at the 7:22 mark with his second of the game to reestablish the Stingrays two goal lead. The play started with Cherniwchan passing the puck to Vinny Muto who was cruising down the slot. Muto saw a defender closing fast so he shoveled a backhand pass back to Cherniwchan who buried the disc in the back of the net.
Orlando kept coming and cut the margin back to one when Foget netted his eighth goal of the season (seventh with the Solar Bears) at the 11:44 mark. He was set up by Chris LeBlanc who got his own rebound off the side of the net and fed Foget who went low far side from a very tight angle.
Despite giving up two, Redmond, who was making his first start for the Stingrays, continually frustrated the Solar Bears by being in the right place to make saves. A late man advantage gave Berehowsky an opportunity to pull Ouellette (21 saves) for an extra attacker but when Cam Askew found the empty cage from his own defensive zone for his eighth, it put South Carolina up by two.
Berehowsky pulled Ouellette again with 1:39 to go but it was the Stingrays who took advantage. Eiserman did the honors, stealing the puck and dashing into the Orlando end before burying the puck in the net with 17.7 seconds left for his seventh of the year.
Despite the loss, the fact that the Solar Bears outshot the Stingrays 18-8 in the final frame was a positive that for Berehowsky proved that if they stick to the system, success will follow.
“They started playing the right way [in the third period]. They got pucks in deep and they started to work,” he said. “If you’re not going to work, it’s not going to work. You can have all the skill you want but I don’t know any coach who says toe drag at the blue line or dipsy-doodle just inside the blue line and then lose the puck and let them transition. No coach says that and that’s what we were doing.”
Notes: Final shots were 31-26 in favor of Orlando… The Solar Bears went 1-for-4 on the power play while the Stingrays were 1-for-3… Askew’s goal extended his streak of games with a goal to five with seven tallies in that span… The game was the 100th professional start for Orlando’s Schoenborn… South Carolina is now 12-0-0-0 when leading after two periods… The Solar Bears finish their pre-Christmas schedule with a trio of games against the division leading Florida Everblades. The first two games on Thursday and Friday will be at the Amway Center before the teams head to Estero on Saturday to play at the Hertz Arena.
Orlando’s Dylan Fitze (center) tries to get position in front of South Carolina goalie Angus Redmond during Monday’s contest (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
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