The Orlando Solar Bears hosted the Florida Everblades tonight at Amway Center in Orlando, FL for a hockey matchup in the South Division of the ECHL.  The Everblades came to town with a record of 26-10 and #1 in the South while the 21-19 Solar Bears rank 6th.  

The Orlando fans showed up to support their team for Tie Dye Night in record numbers.  The announced attendance of 11,382 set a new single game franchise record and the Solar Bears showed their appreciation in grinding out a 5-4 OT win.

The Solar Bears scored first when Tristin Langan found the net at the 13:34 mark for the only goal of the first period.  The Everblades responded in the second with a pair of goals by Cam Darcy 3:17 and Levco Koper 10:42 to give Florida a 2-1 lead.    

Langan, Orlando’s leading scorer, found the net again for his second goal to tie the game at the 15:08.  Power plays would yield a goal each for both teams( Florida’s Blake Wienecki 15:08 & Orlando’s Shawn Szydlowski 18:28) to close out the second period and tied 3-3.

The score remained the same for the majority of the third period until Everblades scoring leader, Joe Pendenza, broke the tie with a goal at 12:28.  Down 3-4 and with the hometown crowd energized, Solar Bears’ forward Szydlowski got his second goal of the night to tie the game and push it to overtime.

In the overtime period, Orlando forward Joe Carroll sent a shot to the top right corner of the net that found a seam for the game winning goal and sending the Orlando fans into a frenzy. 

With the win, the Solar Bears will take their 2 game win streak onto the road to face the Florida Everblades on their home ice on back to back nights Friday & Saturday, February 9 & 10.  

Photo credit: (cover)Sean Russell/FAAZ Sports – (gallery) Sean Russell & Brianna Russell/FAAZ Sports