GREENVILLE, SC – After Tuesday’s offensive explosion in North Charleston, the Orlando Solar Bears thought they had solved their goal-scoring woes. Little did they know that a bunch of plucky Swamp Rabbits would teach thousands of school children and the Solar Bears that at the end of the day a good defense can control a good offense any time of day.
Led by a stellar 36-save performance by goalie Brandon Halverson, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (3-2-0-0, 6 points) edged the Orlando Solar Bears (2-3-1-0, 5 points) 2-1 in overtime in front of a loud and enthusiastic announced crowd of 5,961 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Thursday. Paul Zanette played the role of hero in the extra period, netting his second goal of the season with 53.1 seconds left in overtime to secure the win.
Playing in front of the Education Day crowd in a 10:30 am start, the Swamp Rabbits were making their home debut after having two games last weekend postponed due to mechanical issues with the building’s ice system. If the Solar Bears, who were coming off a convincing win over South Carolina on Tuesday, were expecting a rusty-looking opponent, they certainly did not get what they thought.
Greenville was aggressive from the start, pushing the tempo and trying to get into the head of Orlando goalie Ryan Massa, who was making his third straight start. The Swamp Rabbits were not shy in driving to the net, as Joe Houk did midway through the first period. Houk got in alone and Massa made the save but the Swamp Rabbits forward couldn’t stop and ran over the Solar Bears goalie. Both players would continue in the contest but the tone was set.
For his part, Halverson was on his game just as Massa was. Late in the opening period with his team on the power play, Orlando’s Patrick Watling got loose for a golden opportunity. Watling used his speed to drive the net but Halverson was equal to the challenge and made the save.
The game remained scoreless thanks to the work of the netminders into the second period. At the 8:43 mark, Greenville opened the scoring when Brandon Alderson took a feed from Spiro Goulakos and nailed a slap shot that beat Massa up top off the bottom of the crossbar for his third goal of the season.
It took the visiting Solar Bears less than two minutes to respond. With Greenville’s Matt Prapavessis in the penalty box, the Solar Bears’ Cason Hohmann took the offensive zone faceoff. He won it back cleanly to Adam Brace and Brace whipped a snap shot past Halverson for his first score in an Orlando uniform at the 10:28 mark.
Orlando continued to press for the go-ahead score but Halverson was solid between the pipes. Massa was also in the zone, keeping the Swamp Rabbits off the board for the rest of the middle frame.
Early in the third, tempers flared when Greenville’s Garrett Noonan made contact with Massa in the crease area. Massa took exception to the play and by the time the game officials had calmed things down, both teams had two players sitting in the box (one of Orlando’s was serving a roughing call against Massa) and the Solar Bears were on the power play.
Massa was still upset about a minute later when he took an ill-advised interference penalty. It did not hurt Orlando but at the end of the truncated Greenville man advantage, Halverson (36 saves) stopped the Solar Bears’ Denver Manderson on a two-on-none break with teammate Joe Perry.
Massa, who finished the game with 44 saves, was spectacular in the back half of the final stanza. He made a key save on Tyler Brown with a little under four minutes left in regulation and then stoned Angelo Miceli with a brilliant kick save save with less than a minute to go in regulation to send the contest to overtime.
In the extra period, the teams traded scoring chances as the tempo of the game went up several notches. Finally with a minute left before a potential shootout, Houk got the puck to Zanette who drove hard to the net and slid the puck under Massa’s diving save attempt for the game-winner.
Game Notes: Orlando’s penalty killing units, which had allowed six opposition power play goals in the first four games, posted their second straight perfect game, blanking the Swamp Rabbits on six chances. The Solar Bears man advantage upped its season success rate to 7-for-32 (21.8 percent) with Brace’s tally…The morning start was the first of three this month for the Solar Bears. Orlando will host its own School Day game against Greenville on November 17th at the Amway Center before playing an 11 a.m. game against Brampton on Thanksgiving morning…The Solar Bears and Swamp Rabbits will meet again Friday night in Greenville. The 7 p.m. contest has been designated as the Swamp Rabbits official “opening night” game.
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