Road Warriors Fall to Orlando in Season Opener
October 19, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release
Orlando, FL - The Greenville Road Warriors, proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, allowed three goals to forward Brad Ross on Saturday and fell to the Orlando Solar Bears, 5-2, in the season opener at the Amway Center. Chad Nehring and Kyle Jean earned the goals for Greenville, while Solar Bears' goaltender Garrett Sparks stopped 35 shots for the win.
Orlando (1-0-0-0) jumped out to an early lead at 3:27 of the first when Mike Ullrich found defenseman Bryce Aneloski at the hash marks, who beat Malcolm on a one-timer for a 1-0 advantage. Less than five minutes later, Greenville (0-1-0-0) evened the score when defenseman Mike Banwell lined a shot from the blue line and Nehring cleaned up the rebound at the 7:37 mark.
The Solar Bears took command for good at 14:48 of the first when Ryan Rupert found Ross in front, who beat Malcolm glove side for a 2-1 score. Ross continued his success and notched his second of the contest while the Solar Bears were shorthanded at 2:33 of the middle frame. Following a holding minor to Tyler Biggs, Ross grabbed the puck and hustled down the ice on a 2-on-1 break before beating Malcolm from the right circle on a wrist shot.
Gleason Fournier made it 4-1 on a snap shot from the high slot at the 6:09 mark of the second, before Ross completed his hat trick and a four-point night at 16:16. Following a turnover at the Greenville blue line, Jacob Cepis found Ross behind the Road Warriors defense, who caught up to the puck and swatted it in from the right circle with Malcolm out of position.
Greenville produced the game's final tally at 12:00 of the third when Dallas Jackson played the puck into the crease from the left side, before Jean beat Sparks stick-side from the doorstep.
In addition to the scoring, tempers began to boil over towards the end of the second period when Nehring and Orlando's Stefan Della Rovere dropped the gloves for the season's first fight at the 19:48 mark. The third period saw three more tilts including: Emerson Clark vs. Alex Gallant (2:07), Scott Arnold vs. Eric Baier (2:20) and Bretton Cameron vs. Biggs (4:07). Clark also was assessed a misconduct for continuing altercation following his bout.
Greenville finished the game 0-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Additionally, the Road Warriors outshot Orlando 37-34.
Malcolm made 29 saves and suffered the loss.
Greenville returns to action with a 3:00 p.m. rematch against Orlando tomorrow afternoon at the Amway Center. Fans can follow the game online with live audio and video through ECHL.TV .
The Road Warriors kick off their 5th season of hockey in the Upstate on Friday, October 24th against the South Carolina Stingrays at 7 p.m. The Warriors are offering fans a special $10 Opening Night ticket and 2014-45 ticket plans start as low as $81! Call a Road Warriors Account Executive at 864-674-PUCK or visit GreenvilleRoadWarriors.com/tickets-overview.html to secure your Road Warriors tickets today!
• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...
ECHL Stories from October 19, 2014
- Comeback Powers Thunder Past Bakersfield 4-2 - Stockton Thunder
- Aces Swept at Home - Alaska Aces
- Sparks Makes 36 Saves as Orlando Defeats Greenville, 2-0 - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
- Condors Start Strong, Falter Late in 4-2 Loss in Stockton - Bakersfield Condors
- ECHL Transactions - October 19 - ECHL
- Gameday Blog: the Thunder Open Their 10th Season at Stockton Arena - Stockton Thunder
- ECHL.TV Early Bird Pricing Extended Until Next Sunday - ECHL
- Blomstrand propels K-Wings with three-point night - Kalamazoo Wings
- ECHL Today - October 19 - ECHL
- Rush loose close game - Rapid City Rush
- Cannata's 36 save shutout holds off Aces on championship ring night - Alaska Aces
- Thunder Battle Back, Beat Bakersfield 4-3 - Stockton Thunder
- Condors Surpassed by Stockton, 4-3 - Bakersfield Condors
- Road Warriors Fall to Orlando in Season Opener - Greenville Swamp Rabbits
- Jackals Fall To Kalamazoo, 6-2 - Elmira Jackals
- Utah Powers Past Idaho, 3-2 - Idaho Steelheads
- Kerbashian & IceMen Defeat Gwinnett 3-1 in Home Opener - Evansville IceMen
- Stingrays Slip Past 'Blades in Shootout - Florida Everblades
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
