(ORLANDO, Fla.) – Tim Rego brought the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in striking distance with a third period shorthanded goal, but the Orlando Solar Bears, lifted by two power play goals and Jon Gillies 34 saves, won 3-1 in the head-to-head finale between the two South Division rivals.

The Solar Bears, for a third straight meeting, scored the first goal, carrying their lead into the intermission. With 9:17 to go, just nine seconds into the Solar Bears first power play, Kade Landry located Anthony Bardaro on the right side, with the latter unleashing a wrist shot over the shoulder of Swamp Rabbits net-minder Isaiah Saville, giving Orlando the 1-0 lead. Jon Gillies, in net for the Solar Bears, turned aside 16 shots from the Swamp Rabbits in the first period.

Orlando notched another power play goal late in the second, this one coming in the final seconds of the frame. With 16 seconds remaining, the Swamp Rabbits got bunched at the far side of the blue line trying to jam the puck out of the zone, but it was kept in by Landry and dished to his captain, Tyler Bird. Bird found Luciano Wilson alone in the slot, who fired home a wrister past Saville’s blocker for his first professional goal to give the Solar Bears a 2-0 lead. Gillies stopped another 10 Swamp Rabbits shots in the middle stanza.

Eventually, the Swamp Rabbits got behind Gillies on the reverse side of special teams. With 7:29 left in the game, on the kill for a sixth time, Ryan O’Hara cut into the Solar Bears zone and dished to Neil Shea on the left, eventually tracking down Tim Rego jumping off the blue line, slipping the puck past Gillies from the right to halve the deficit to 2-1. Late in the game, Saville was pulled from the Swamp Rabbits net for the extra attacker, but Aaron Luchuk’s rim out turned into an empty net goal on a crazy bounce with 2:08 to play, bringing the game to its 3-1 final score.

Isaiah Saville, playing for a ninth time in the last 10 games with seven starts, turned aside 30 of 32 shots in the defeat (8-11-1-1).

The Swamp Rabbits now come home to reload for a brief spell before completing their franchise record 11-game road trip’s final three games. Next up are the Savannah Ghost Pirates for two games on Friday, March 20^th, and Saturday, March 21^st, with puck drop slated for both nights at 7:00 p.m. at Enmarket Arena.

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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.