EMOFF’S CAREER NIGHT POWERS SWAMP RABBITS TO FIRST WIN OF 2025

(ORLANDO, Fla.) – Mason Emoff netted his first career ECHL goals, Dru Krebs earned his first as a professional, and three multi-point efforts led the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to a commanding 5-2 win over the Orlando Solar Bears on Friday night. The Swamp Rabbits snapped a five-game skid with the victory in their first game of 2025.

The Swamp Rabbits jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, with two thirds of the scoring comprised of career firsts. Brent Pedersen got things started 4:54 into the game when a puck bounced to him on a right-side faceoff to his position on the left wing in the slot. Pedersen didn’t hesitate and fired a shot that squeaked through the legs of Orlando goaltender Ryan Fanti, giving the Swamp Rabbits a 1-0 lead. In the latter half of the first, Colton Young and Carter Savoie led a charge up the ice and into the Orlando zone. Savoie, despite being tied up, dropped the puck back to an oncoming Dru Krebs, who rifled home his first professional goal under the glove of Fanti to double the Swamp Rabbits lead to 2-0 with 5:43 left in the first (Savoie and Young assisted). Not to be outdone 2:27 later, Jake Flynn fired a “Hail Mary” pass from behind the faceoff dots in his own zone and connected with Mason Emoff at the Solar Bears blue line. Emoff went uncontested towards Fanti and finished with a backhand flourish, tripling the lead to 3-0 with 3:16 left in the opening frame with his first career ECHL goal. Following the goal, Fanti was relieved of his goaltending duties for the Solar Bear, replaced by Alexis Gravel. The Swamp Rabbits outshot the Solar Bears 10-2 in the first 20 minutes, with Jacob Ingham denying both tries he saw in net for Greenville.

Emoff continued his big night early into the second period, but the Solar Bears counterpunched to keep the game at a three-goal gap. Emoff’s second strike came 2:15 into the second after he started the rush in the neutral zone with John Parker-Jones, which was continued by a nice stickhandling maneuver to maintain control. Parker-Jones hit Pedersen in the net-front, who, while having a defender draped on his back, found Emoff crashing the net, with the latter potting his second of the game to pile on a 4-0 lead on the Solar Bears. However, Orlando found an answer on the power play 50 seconds later, with Spencer Kersten doing the honors. At 3:05, Aaron Luchuk had a blast negated by Ingham’s leg pad, the but the rebound kicked out to the left wall where Kersten fired a slap shot that beat him to get Orlando on the board, trailing 4-1 (Luchuk and Hudson Thornton assisted). 

Bryce Brodzinski continued the hot scoring night for the Swamp Rabbits, adding a fifth tally for the final one on their ledger. With 6:18 played in the final frame, Brodzinski and Carter Savoie wreaked havoc on the forecheck, cycling continuously for their shift. The puck was eventually forced on Gravel’s net and produced a rebound, which was pocketed by Brodzinski in the slot to make it a 5-1 game (Savoie and Miles Gendron assisted). The Solar Bears countered one last time on a late power play with Ara Nazarian redirecting an Aaron Luchuk pass behin Ingham, but they couldn’t rally behind it, ultimately leading to a Swamp Rabbits 5-2 win.

Jacob Ingham rebounded strongly in net for the Swamp Rabbits, turning away 28 of 30 shots in the victory (5-3-0-1).

The Swamp Rabbits continue their week-long road trip with a showdown against the Jacksonville Icemen, with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. EST at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday, January 4^th.

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About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team have been providing family friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest-level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's LA Kings and the AHL's Ontario Reign. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.