ORLANDO, FLA – When Hockey Fights Cancer weekend opened in Orlando on Saturday, the Orlando Solar Bears came up with an inspired performance befitting the emotions of the day. Sunday afternoon, the Solar Bears were looking to recapture that feeling and sweep their weekend series with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
It took more than half the game to find success but in the end, Orlando was able to send the Swamp Rabbits away with no points.
Alex Schoenborn posted a three-point game with a goal and two assists to lead Orlando (29-19-4-0) to a 3-2 victory over Greenville (18-33-3-2) in front of an announced crowd of 5,213 at the Amway Center. Tampa Bay prospect Otto Somppi had yet another multi-point contest with a goal and an assist while Trevor Olson netted the eventual game-winning tally as the Solar Bears maintained their hold on second place in the ECHL’s South division over Jacksonville.
Orlando goalie Martin Ouellette (center) peeks around Greenville’s Brendan Harms looking for the puck with teammate Alexander Kuqali (left) during Sunday’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Just as important to Sunday’s win, as he was on Saturday, was Orlando goalie Martin Ouellette. Ouellette held the fort for much of the game, making 29 saves to record his 18th win of the season, moving him into fifth place for most wins in a single season by a Solar Bears goalie.
“Marty always plays well so like I said he’s logging a lot of minutes right now,” Solar Bears Head Coach Drake Berehowsky said about his netminder. “I hope he’s enjoying it. We lean on him alot so we know he’s a true professional and he comes to play every night.”
Ouellette found himself in a big spot when teammate Tayler Thompson was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for knee-to-knee contact with Greenville’s Johno May. Before Thompson could be issued off the ice, he had to take on Swamp Rabbit forward Thomas Ebbing, who was taking up for his fallen teammate and earning a fighting major as did Thompson.
During the extended power play, the Swamp Rabbits found the back of the net once. It came at the 6:57 mark when Adam Larkin’s shot from the point was redirected by Dylan Vander Esch past Ouellette for his 10th goal of the season.
It was the only score of the first period but there were plenty of penalty minutes to go around. A total of 51 minutes in penalties were whistled in the period, helped out by a second fight between Orlando’s Liam Bilson and Greenville’s Travis Howe dropped the gloves after Bilton laid a hard check on Larkin.
The Swamp Rabbits had two more chances to up their margin in the second period with a pair of early power plays but the Solar Bears and Ouellette held the visitors at bay.
It was not until the 14:39 mark of the middle stanza that Orlando got on the board. It came when the puck was played down near the Greenville net. Somppi was there and grabbed the disc and somehow squeezed it between the post and the skate of Swamp Rabbits netminder Garrett Bartus. No one seemed to see the puck across the line except for Somppi, forcing referee Jesse Grour to consult with the goal judge who confirmed that it had indeed crossed the line for Somppi’s third goal with the Solar Bears.
The Solar Bears celebrate a second period goal by Otto Somppi during Sunday’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Less than three minutes later, Somppi was back creating more offense and another Orlando tally. On this one, he drove below the goal line and behind the net while Schoenborn sought out a space in the low slot. Somppi saw a passing lane and fed Schoenborn who placed a perfect shot hing over Bartus for his 8th goal and a lead that the Solar Bears would not give up.
“It went back to our defense and he kind of shot it up. [Jackson] Playfair tipped it in to Somppi to go around the net,” Schoenborn, a San Jose prospect, said. “I saw it and I just went strong side and he [Somppi] made a great pass and I luckily got it top glove [corner] there.”
The teams went back and forth through the early stages of the third period with each side looking for the next tally. Greenville thought it had tied the game with 11:59 left in regulation when everyone lost sight of the puck in Ouellette’s pads near the left post. After a short discussion among the on-ice officials, it was ruled that the puck had not crossed the line and play continued.
The Swamp Rabbits had a chance to even things up midway through the final frame when they went on a power play. As they had through the first two stanzas after the Vander Esch score early , Orlando’s penalty killers and Ouellette put the visitors on lockdown to maintain the lead.
Orlando’s Liam Bilton (right) and Greenville’s Austen Brassard poke at each other along the boards (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
That penalty kill was made all that more important when with less than five minutes to go the Solar Bears went up by two. It came when Olson saw Schoenborn busting toward the front of the Greenville net. Olson, who was near the side boards, attempted a pass to his teammate but a defender’s stick hit the puck first, sending it past a startled Bartus for Olson’s 12th of the season.
Greenville pulled Bartus (32 saves) with a little over a minute to go for an extra attacker. The plan worked to perfection when Chad Duchesne fired a pass to the slot where Austen Brassard changed its direction, sending into the back of the net for his 17th at 18:49.
It was as close as the visitors would get to staging a comeback as the Solar Bears protected Ouellette well enough to post the victory, the team’s seventh in its last eight home games.
Berehowsky was certainly pleased with taking all four point over the weekend but he still thinks his Solar Bears have more to show.
“I thought we played alright. I think there’s still more to this club,” he said. “I’d like to see us play a more consistent game. We’d have a couple of good shifts and it felt like the momentum – we couldn’t get any momentum going. There were a lot of penalties and stuff so we’ll look at the video and we’ll fix the things we need to but overallI I thought it was a good weekend for us.”
Somppi, who has eight points (three goals, five assists) in five outings with Orlando, said that the way that the team came together in the wins made it fun to be on the ice – even if he did not feel he himself played his best.
“It was fun to play a lot. I didn’t feel [that] I played good yesterday [Saturday]. I felt I was pretty bad yesterday,” Somppi said. “Today I felt I was better and more complete on the ice. It was fun and there was a lot of fans so it made it even more fun.”
Orlando’s Mike Monfredo (left) tries to get away from Greenville’s Jake Faiella (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Beyond the success on the ice, the Hockey Fights Cancer weekend raised awareness and money for cancer research. For Ouellette, who wore the name of late season ticket member Ann O’Brien on his jersey, the importance of the weekend was just as big as the four points on the line.
“Obviously it’s a great cause that the whole hockey world pulling together to fight for,” he said. “Obviously everyone has someone they know in their family, friends or entourage tha’s [been] affected. Everyone’s fighting for someone so it obviously it’s an emotional weekend for everyone and I think everyone pulled together and it was great to get the two wins this weekend in front of a lot of fans and obviously for Ann as well as her daughter and her family. I think everyone pulled together and it was a great weekend and obviously emotional but it was positive.”
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