(ORLANDO, Fla.) – Wade Murphy deflected a Jake Murray shot, the latter’s first of two assists in the third period, to break a 3-3 deadlock in the third period, and alongside Neil Shea’s three-point game led the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to a 5-3 win over the Orlando Solar Bears on Saturday night. The win edges them closer to the Savannah Ghost Pirates in fourth in the South Division, now seven points back with 16 games remaining.

The Solar Bears potted the only goal of the first period and carried the lead into the dressing room for a second straight head to head meeting. With 7:16 left in the first, Kade Landry crept off the offensive blue line with an open lane and fired a wrist shot past Swamp Rabbits net-minder Pierce Charleson, giving the Swamp Rabbits a 1-0 lead (Gustav Müller and Tyler Bird assisted).

As has been the case all season long, the Swamp Rabbits offense exploded in the second period, beginning with two goals in under a minute. At 7:01 of the first, a puck got deflected by the Solar Bears on the attacking blue line and came to Ryan O’Hara, who sprinted past everyone on an uncontested breakaway over two thirds of the ice. O’Hara finished five-hole on Solar Bears goalie Connor Ungar, tying the game at 1-1 (Neil Shea and Tim Lovell assisted). Exactly 48 seconds later, Parker Berge found Dante Sheriff up the left side of the neutral zone, entering the Solar Bears zone with a head full of steam. Sheriff burned by his defender, deked out Ungar, and slipped a backhand past him to give the Swamp Rabbits their first lead, 2-1, at 7:49 of the second. Shea then added to his point total with his first goal as a Swamp Rabbits, separating them from the Solar Bears with a one-timer off of a tic-tac-toe passing sequence from Josh Atkinson and Tim Lovell to push the advantage to 3-1 with 3:33 remaining.

Orlando came back into the game with two power play goals in the first half of the third. Anthony Bardaro scored the first one, finishing a cross zone passing sequence with a tap-in past Charleson to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 1:44 of the third, then started an exchange of similar fashion with Aaron Luchuk to Tyler Bird, squaring the game at 3-3 with 9:14 remaining. However, the Swamp Rabbits did not go gently into the good night. With 6:02 left in the game, Wade Murphy caught a piece of a Jake Murray blue line shot from the slot that deflected over Ungar past his shoulder to give the Swamp Rabbits back the lead at 4-3 (Murray and Shea assisted). Jack Brackett ended the Solar Bears comeback with an empty-net goal with 50.2 seconds to go, sealing a 5-3 Swamp Rabbits win.

Pierce Charleson, making his first start since February 22^nd, earned his first win since three days prior to that with 21 saves on 24 shots (7-7-3-0).

The Swamp Rabbits conclude their weekend against the Solar Bears tomorrow, March 15^th. Puck drop at the Kia Center is slated for 3:00 p.m. EST.

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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.