SOLAR BEARS PULL AWAY IN FIRST OF TWO MEETINGS

(ORLANDO, Fla.) -  Jacob Modry netted his first goal with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to give them a second period lead and Kolby Hay made 37 saves, but the Orlando Solar Bears scored four unanswered in the final two frames to take a 4-1 win on Saturday night. The loss came in a “four-point game” and slashed the Swamp Rabbits elimination number to 14 with 16 games remaining and a rematch against Orlando looming tomorrow.

Both teams skated to a scoreless opening 20 minutes, with Kolby Hay staving away six Orlando shots from the Swamp Rabbits net and Ryan Fanti negating eight fired towards the Solar Bears end. Eventually, Jacob Modry broke the deadlock with his first goal as a Swamp Rabbit in the middle of the second frame. With 9:11 gone by in the second, Dustin Geregach, in just his second pro game, fired a shot from the right wall that was stopped by Fanti’s leg pad. Modry jumped off the blue line and potted the rebound, giving the Swamp Rabbits a 1-0 lead and Geregach his first pro point on the assist (Geregach and Quinn Olson assisted). Orlando found an answer over six minutes later from Ara Nazarian, who split the Swamp Rabbits defense and walked in on Hay, outlasting him with a backhand to tie the game at 1-1 with 4:43 left in the second (Tyler Bird had the lone assist).

Hay continued to make multiple saves to keep the Swamp Rabbits in it, stopping 17 of 18 in the second and a plethora of early chances in the third, but Reece Newkirk broke through and rattled off back to back tallies to help Orlando pull away. His first came with 6:32 left in the game when Spencer Kersten drove towards the Swamp Rabbits net and slipped the puck under Hay. The puck was stalled on the Swamp Rabbits goal line, but poked in by Newkirk to give Orlando their first lead at 2-1 (Kersten and Tyson Feist assisted). Exactly 3:24 later, the puck was turned over to Kersten inside the Swamp Rabbits blue line, giving him and Newkirk a two-on-one towards the Swamp Rabbits net. Newkirk tapped Kersten’s past by a sprawled out Hay to give the Solar Bears some breathing room at 3-1 with 3:06 remaining in the game. With Hay pulled for the extra attacker, Tyler Bird sealed the game into the empty net, giving the Solar Bears a 4-1 win on four unanswered goals.

Kolby Hay turned in a brilliant 37 save performance on 40 shots in suffering the defeat (1-2-1-0).

The Swamp Rabbits continue on their seven-game road trip with a rematch against the Orlando Solar Bears, the sixth game on the trip. Puck drop is slated for 3:00 p.m. EST at the Kia Center tomorrow, March 9^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.