Stingrays excluded by sun bears in Orlando

ORLANDO, FL – The Stingrays suffered a 5-0 loss to the Orlando Solar Bears at the Kia Center on Sunday night. South Carolina finished the game with 52 shots on goal, their highest shot total of the season, but the Rays couldn’t solve Solar Bears goaltender Alexis Gravel, who earned the first shutout of his team. professional career. South Carolina’s Seth Eisele finished the game with 15 saves on 19 shots.

The first half started with solid offensive chances on both sides, but remained scoreless until Jarrett Lee gave the Solar Bears a 1-0 lead on a scoring kick pass from Alex Frye . The Solar Bears extended their lead to 2-0 late in the first period on a goal by former Stingray Hudson Thornton on a shot from the left point with less than a minute to play.

The Solar Bears came out in the second period, taking a 3-0 lead thanks to a blistering shot from Andrew Coxhead that beat Eisele’s side blocker. Orlando made it 4-0 when Jack Adams deflected a Hudson Thornton shot from the point that beat Eisele with just over four minutes left in the middle of the period.

The Stingrays had a season-high 24 shots in the third period, but the only result in the final period was an empty-net goal from Spencer Kersten that made it 5-0.

The Stingrays are back in action Friday night against the Jacksonville Icemen at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.