ORLANDO — The Orlando Solar Bears snapped their three game losing streak Saturday night, beating the Elmira Jackals 5-3, in front of a crowd of 7,190 at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando.
Orlando trailed Elmira 2-0 after two periods of play, but the Solar Bears were able to score five goals in the third period and end their three game losing streak.
“We showed resilience, came out flying, and we got the job done,” said Solar Bears winger Kevin Baker about the third period comeback.
The first period saw no goals from either team, but the Solar Bears did manage to outshoot the Jackals 16-8 during the period. This was the first time in the past five games that Orlando was able to shutout their opponent in the first period.
“We don’t ever want to give up any goals,” said Orlando coach Drake Berehowsky. “Anytime you come out and you’re not giving up goals, it’s a great sign.”
Elmira would jump out to a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the second period, when Jackal’s forward Dustin Gazley shot the puck past Solar Bears goalie John Curry for his sixth goal of the season. The Jackals would later add to their lead with five minutes left in the period, thanks to a goal by forward Darren Kramer, making the score 2-0 in favor of Elmira.
“We got a little unlucky in the second period,” said Solar Bears forward Rob Mignardi. “But in the third period we battled back, and we finally got a couple goals.”
Mathew Sisca brought the Solar Bears within one when he scored his fourth goal of the season with 14 minutes left to play in the third period. Orlando thought they had tied the game at 2-2- with 11 minutes left in the third period, but the goal was waved off due to incidental contact with the goalie.
The Solar Bears were able to tie the game with a little over six minutes left to play, when Rob Mignardi scored thanks in part to assists by Sisca and Nick Petersen. Orlando would then take a 3-2 lead over the Jackals when Kevin Baker was able to score less than a minute after Mignardi tied the game.
“We needed it just to give us some life, and it was great for us,” said Mignardi about the impact of his first goal.
Baker and Mignardi would each score another goal during the final five minutes of the third period to give the Solar Bears a 5-2 lead. Jack Downing of Elmira would score another goal for the Jackals with one second left in the game, to make the final score 5-3 in favor of Orlando.
With the win on Saturday, the Solar Bears improve their record to 6-4-2-1 for the season, which is good for third place in the ECHL’s South Division.
Orlando faces off against the first place Gwinnett Gladiators on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 P.M. Despite the win on Saturday night, the Solar Bears will enter Sunday’s game riding a three game losing streak to the Gladiators, which dates back to Nov. 1.
“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted the last two games here at home against them,” said Baker about Gwinnett. “It’s going to be a good game.”
