After falling behind 2-0 in their best-of-seven South Division Semifinals series, the Orlando Solar Bears have won three of the last four games to force a win-or-go-home Game 7 with the South Carolina Stingrays.
Orlando cruised to a 6-2 victory on Sunday to even the series 3-3.
Spencer Kersten got the Solar Bears on the board first with a wrist shot off a cross-ice feed from Reece Newkirk 11:13 into the opening frame.
The lead doubled to 2-0 just 34 seconds later with an unassisted goal by Anthony Bardaro, who intercepted a pass as the Stingrays were trying to clear the puck out of the zone. Bardaro buried a wrister from the top of the left circle.
The Solar Bears then went on a five-minute power play with the Stingrays’ Tyler Weiss getting called for a major penalty for spearing. Bardaro took advantage by scoring his second goal of the game after getting a pass from Aaron Luchuk and fired in a power-play goal past goaltender Mitchell Gibson to give Orlando a 3-0 lead.
Late in the period, the Stingrays got on the board with a shorthanded goal from Ryan Hofer. Andrew Perrott entered the zone and found Hofer for a quick wrist shot past Orlando netminder Jon Gillies to narrow the gap to 3-1.
Alex Frye regained the three-goal advantage for the Solar Bears with a backhand shot that beat Gibson 7:39 into the second period, making the score 4-1. Newkirk and Kersten earned the assists.
South Carolina cut into their deficit once more with another shorthanded goal midway through the middle frame. Jayden Lee entered the zone and ripped a shot from the right circle past Gillies to make it a 4-2 game.
Tyler Bird regained the three-goal advantage for the Solar Bears 1:45 into the third period. Aaron Luchuk and Bird executed a give-and-go, and Bird tapped the puck into an open net to extend Orlando’s lead to 5-2.
Kersten added an empty net goal to seal the 6-2 victory for Orlando. Game 7 will be at North Charleston Coliseum on Tuesday, with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 Pm.