(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Carter Savoie’s third period goal extended his point streak to four games to bring the Greenville Swamp Rabbits within one, but Aaron Luchuk’s pair of third period goals helped the Orlando Solar Bears pull away for an eventual 5-2 win, their fourth straight. The loss ends the Swamp Rabbits three game point streak over the last week (1-0-2-0).

Orlando jumped out quickly to a 2-0 lead after one period. Connor Kurth got things started at 4:43 when he button hooked in the left corner and picked his corner seconds later, firing a shot over the shoulder of Swamp Rabbits net-minder Mattias Sholl to give Orlando a 1-0 lead (Carter Allen and Jarid Lukosevicius assisted). Roughly 10 minutes later following a brief two-man advantage for the Solar Bears, Jack Adams potted a net-front rebound on their third power play of the first period, doubling the lead to 2-0 with 5:19 left in the second (Anthony Bardaro and Spencer Kersten assisted).

Eventually, the Swamp Rabbits broke through late in the second period on special teams of their own. With 82 seconds left in the second, Kenta Isogai, on the Swamp Rabbits third power play of the game, rifled a shot from the left wall that was initially kicked away by Orlando goalie Jon Gillies. The rebound actively bounced to Parker Berge, who rifled it home to cut the deficit to 2-1 (Isogai and Tim Rego assisted).

Orlando consistently built separation to keep the Swamp Rabbits at bay, despite their best efforts. Just 64 seconds into the final period, Anthony Bardaro re-established the multi-goal lead when, off a turnover in the d-zone, he pocketed a rebound off of a Connor Kurth chance, separating the combatants by a 3-1 score. However, Carter Savoie answered 1:11 later when Ryan O’Reilly intercepted the puck on the near wall and rimmed it behind the net to Kenta Isogai. At 2:15, Isogai found Savoie, who slung the puck past Gillies on the near post to close the gap to 3-2, extending his personal point streak to four games. Aaron Luchuk then stepped up for Orlando and widened the gap again, blasting a one-timer on a two-on-one rush with Jack Adams down the ice to make it 4-2 with 6:08 left in regulation (Adams and Milo Roelens assisted). With their backs against the wall, the Swamp Rabbits pulled Sholl from their net, but Luchuk potted a second goal into the open net to seal a 5-2 Solar Bears win with 2:37 left in regulation.

Mattias Sholl, starting his fourth straight game, stopped 21 of 25 shots on net in suffering his first regulation loss since November 14^th vs Florida (3-4-2-0).

The Swamp Rabbits now take to the road to face the in-state rival South Carolina Stingrays. Puck drop for the first of two against the Stingrays takes place tomorrow at 6:05pm EST at North Charleston Coliseum.

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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.