The South Carolina Stingrays fell 4-0 in the first of back-to-back games with the Orlando Solar Bears on April 2 at the Kia Center.
Orlando (26-35-4-1) was awarded a power play early in the first and capitalized. Jarid Lukosevicius opened the scoring with 6:23 left to give the Solar Bears a 1-0 lead.
South Carolina (41-21-1-3) could not find an answer after Lukosevicius’ opener, and Orlando added to its lead in the final minutes of the period. Xavier Lapointe doubled the Solar Bears’ advantage with 4:45 remaining in the first.
In the second period, the Solar Bears continued to build on their lead. Lukosevicius scored his second of the night with 8:10 to go in the middle frame before Massimo Lombardi made it 4-0 with 1:27 left in the period.
The Stingrays went to goaltender Ty Taylor at the start of the third period. The netminder played well in relief of Alexis Gravel, turning aside all 13 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes. But, offensively, the Stingrays could not figure out Orlando goaltender Connor Ungar, who finished with a 27-save shutout.
South Carolina and Orlando meet again on April 3 in a 7 p.m. puck drop in the Kia Center.