Solar Bears Drop Road Warriors, 3-2

Orlando, FL -  The Solar Bears tallied one goal in each period to take down the Greenville Road Warriors 3-2 in front of 6,347 fans at the Amway Center on Friday night.

For the second straight game, Orlando opened up a 1-0 lead in the first period. C Ryan Cruthers and C Mathew Sisca combined to knock a puck loose in the neutral zone right to forward C.J. Severyn. He raced into the attacking zone and fired shot over the shoulder of G Nathan Lieuwen with 5:08 left in the opening period.

The Solar Bears struck 6:18 into the second period to increase their lead to 2-0. RW Dan Gendur stole a puck in the attacking zone and fired a shot that was stopped by Lieuwen. F Rob Mignardi crashed the front of the net and knocked the rebound into the back of the net to double Orlando's advantage. D Bretton Stamler struck back for the Road Warriors late in the period, when his wrist shot from the left point snuck through some traffic in front of the net and beat G Patrick Killeen to cut the score to 2-1 at 15:06 of the middle frame.

Less than two minutes into the final stanza, F Chad Ziegler redirected a shot from F Ryan Flanigan off the draw and into the top corner of the net to knot the game up at 2-2. Only 26 seconds later, F Dan Dries raced up the left wing after a pass from C Chris Lawrence and picked the top corner of the net to restore Orlando's one goal lead. The Solar Bears and Killeen shut down Greenville for the remainder of the game, taking the 3-2 victory over the Road Warriors.

Three Stars: 1. D. Dries (ORL); 2. C. Severyn (ORL); 3. R. Mignardi (ORL)
Power Plays: ORL: 0/5; GRN: 0/4
Shots: ORL: 27; GRN: 33

Notes:
Four of the six games between Orlando and Greenville have been decided by one goal. Three of those contests have gone past regulation... G Patrick Killeen earned his first win as a Solar Bear tonight... F Dan Dries scored his first goal as Solar Bear tonight... C Ryan Cruthers had his five-game goal streak snapped today. He scored five goals during that span... F Michael Neal had his three game goal streak snapped tonight, but extended his point streak to four games (4 goals, 1 assist)... F Scott Tanski was not dressed tonight, marking the first time he has missed a game this season.

WFTV