GREENVILLE, SC – Winless in their last eight games, the Orlando Solar Bears arrived at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville looking once again to turn their fortunes around and get moving in the right direction. And just as they have been reminded on numerous occasions over the previous three weeks, the other members of the ECHL’s South division have no sympathy for an opponent in the middle of a slump.
Led by Branden Troock two goals and three total points, the host Greenville Swamp Rabbits (9-2-1-0, 19 points) showed no pity for their guests, downing Orlando (2-8-2-0, 6 points) 4-1 in front of an announced crowd of 4,756 Friday night. The win was Greenville’s third straight its divisional foe and a franchise record eighth straight victory overall while the loss dropped the Solar Bears record against their South division opponents to 1-7-2-0 in early head-to-head matchups.
Much of the first period was an offensive shootout as both teams looked to establish their will over the other. Orlando outshot Greenville 17-13 in the opening period but it was the Swamp Rabbits who took advantage of its opportunities to build a lead.
Greenville opened the scoring 8:26 into the contest when Joe Basaraba got the puck in the corner. The one-time Solar Bear looked to the right circle where Troock was open and slid a pass that his teammate one-timed past Orlando goalie Cal Heeter. For Troock, it was his sixth goal of the season and his second in three games against the Solar Bears.
A little over five minutes later, Troock was at it again, turning a great individual effort into a score. Playing in a defensive posture, Troock picked off a pass by an Orlando player and set off on a clean breakaway.He got to the slot area and whistled a shot to the top corner of the net for his second on the first frame and seventh of the year.
At the other end of the ice, Greenville goalie Brandon Halverson was busy fending off a barrage of shots by the Solar Bears. Thanks to Halverson, the Swamp Rabbits held a 2-0 lead after one.
Desperate for a win, the Solar Bears came out hard in the second, forcing Greenville to take a penalty just 2:21 in. It took the visitors only five seconds to capitalize on the power play as Max Novak won a face-off, sending the puck to Mike Monfredo along the boards. Monfredo sent the puck back to the point where Nolan Valleau lined up a blast that beat Halverson for his fourth of the season.
Halverson settled in after that, making several tough saves over the duration of the middle stanza. His catching glove was particularly sharp, taking away sure goals from Josh Winquist and Novak as part of an eleven save period.
While their goalie was doing his job,the Swamp Rabbits were taking advantage of another mistake by the Solar Bears to extend the lead. Caleb Herbert forced an Orlando defensive zone turnover andput a shot on net that Heeter stopped. The rebound came out and bounced over Monfredo’s stick right to Dawson Leedahl who corraled it and fired it home for his fourth goal of the year and a 3-1 cushion that Greenville took into the final twenty minutes.
The Swamp Rabbits missed out on a golden opportunity to pad their lead with a four minute power play the started at the end of the second period and continued at the start of the third. The failed chance did not matter much as Halverson (44 saves) and the Greenville defense was doing a great job of limiting prime scoring chances to ones that the New York Rangers goaltending prospect handled with ease.
Heeter, who finished the game with 34 saves, gave the Solar Bears a chance by holding the Swamp Rabbits at bay, making several key stops including a solid glove save that denied a goal to Carter Sandlack.
With his team down by two with four minutes left, Orlando head coach Drake Berehowsky pulled Heeter in favor of an extra attacker. The gamble did not work as Brenden Kotyk scored his fourth goal of the year into the empty net with just over a minute to go to seal the outcome.
Notes: Final shots for the game favored Orlando 45-38, the fifth time this season the Solar Bears have hit the 40-shot mark… Orlando’s power play went 1-for-6 in the contest while Greenville was 0-for-5 with the man advantage… Berehowsky and the Solar Bears were part of a three-team trade that transpired over the last two days. Per the ECHL’s transactions report, Orlando got forward Andrew Radjenovic from Cincinnati on Thursday and promptly sent him to Adirondack on Friday for forward J.C. Campagna… Orlando and Greenville will  complete their two-game set Sunday afternoon in Greenville. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.
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