ORLANDO, Fla. — The Solar Bears looked to even up their best-of-seven series with Cincinnati but fell by the final 7-3 score to the Cyclones at the Amway Center on Sunday night.
The Cyclones opened up the scoring 2:21 into the first period. F Byron Froese moved a backhand pass from the left corner to F Barry Almeida for a tap in goal from the right post. Cincinnati took the 1-0 lead into the second period.
Just over a minute into the second, Orlando tied the game at 1-1. A shot from F Zach Harrison missed wide of the right post, but Kessel pinched down from the point, scooped the puck off the wall, and slipped a shot past G Rob Madore. Exactly one minute later, the Cyclones regained the lead when a shot was blocked in front of the net but bounced right to Froese, who made one quick move to his backhand before tucking the puck into the back of the net. Froese tallied again 1:22 after that, this time taking a pass from Almeida behind the net and one-timing the puck inside the left post to push the advantage to 3-1. D Cody Wild cut the lead in half at 8:05 when F Kory Nagy moved a backhand pass to the blue line and Wild blasted the puck inside the right post. Before the end of the period, however, the Cyclones restored their two goal advantage. After a pair of penalties led to 4-on-4 action, D Josh McFadden fired a slap shot from the left point and F Wade Megan deflected the shot into the net with 2:08 to play and give the Cyclones a 4-2 lead going into the final frame.
Another 4-on-4 situation saw the Cyclones push their advantage to 5-2. F Trevor Lewis powered the puck out of the left corner, skated to the goal crease, and lifted a backhand shot under the crossbar 3:23 into the third. The Solar Bears continued to battle, and F Tyler Murovich brought Orlando back to within two goals when he skated into the zone on the right wing and snapped the puck into the top left corner of the net to bring the score to 5-3. The Solar Bears pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker in an effort to find the game tying goal, but F Jonathan Hazen capitalized on the empty net and Froese then completed his hat trick with an empty net goal with 14 seconds left as the Cyclones collected the 7-3 victory over Orlando.
Three Stars: 1. B. Froese (CIN); 2. R. Madore (CIN); 3. B. Almeida (CIN)
Power Plays: ORL: 0/3; CIN: 0/1
Shots: ORL: 33; CIN: 35
Notes:
After two games, Cincinnati leads the series 2-0. The two teams meet again in Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. Tune in to www.iheartsolarbears.com or www.americaone.com to follow the team on the road... G Cody Reichard made his ECHL Playoff debut tonight... Two goals tonight were scored with the teams playing 4-on-4... D Blake Kessel's second period goal was his first professional playoff goal... F Zach Harrison finished the contest with a +2 rating.
WFTV
