ORLANDO, FL – The South Carolina Stingrays fell, 4-0, in the first of two straight meetings against the Orlando Solar Bears on Thursday evening at the Kia Center.
Orlando (26-35-4-1) was awarded a power play early in the first and capitalized. Jarid Lukosevicius opened the scoring 6:23 in giving the Solar Bears a 1-0 lead.
South Carolina (41-21-1-3) could not find an answer after Lukosevicius’ opener, and Orlando added to its lead in the final minutes of the period. Xavier Lapointe doubled the Solar Bears’ advantage with 4:45 remaining in the first.
In the second period, the Solar Bears continued to build on their lead. Lukosevicius scored his second of the night at 8:10 of the middle frame before Massimo Lombardi made it 4-0 with 1:27 remaining in the period.
The Stingrays went to goaltender Ty Taylor at the start of the third period and the netminder played well in relief of Alexis Gravel who started the night in net for South Carolina. Taylor turned aside all 13 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes, but offensively, the Stingrays could not figure out Orlando goaltender Connor Ungar who finished with a 27-save shutout as the Solar Bears beat the Stingrays, 4-0.
South Carolina and Orlando meet again on Friday evening. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. from the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida.
