ECHL Orlando Solar Bears

Cepis Notches Hat Trick to Lead Orlando to 4-3 OT Win

March 4, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Orlando Solar Bears News Release


Estero, FL - F Jacob Cepis collected the second hat trick of the season for the Solar Bears and F Mickey Lang posted his third overtime game winning goal since February 15 as Orlando defeated the Florida Everblades 4-3 in overtime at the Germain Arena on Tuesday night. G Christopher collected 42 saves to earn his eighth victory of the season.

The Solar Bears grabbed the opening goal 5:07 into the contest. F Michael Catenacci powered the puck out of the right corner, found Cepis open on the left side of the net, and Cepis blasted a one-timer inside the post to give the Solar Bears the 1-0 lead. Cepis struck again at 10:59 of the first period when he took the puck wide up the left wing and cut to the net. G Trevor Cann made a save, but as Cepis was forced into the net the puck trickled over the line to put Orlando ahead 2-0. Florida answered back 22 seconds later when forward A.J. Jenks recovered his own rebound and tapped the puck into the net to cut the lead to 2-1 heading to the middle frame.

Cepis completed his hat trick at 4:33 of the second stanza. F Scott Tanski took the puck over the blue line and handed it off to Cepis, who fired a wrist shot just inside the right post and boost the Solar Bears to a 3-1 advantage. The Everblades sliced the advantage in half at 6:09 of the period when F Carl Nielson put a wrist shot from the right boards under the pads of Gibson. Orlando continued to hold their 3-2 lead after two, with Gibson turning away 31 of 33 shots up to that point of the contest.

Early in the third, Florida found the equalizer. F Philip-Michael Devos gathered a loose puck at the blue line, skated into the right circle, and picked the top right corner to force overtime with the teams knotted up at the 3-3 score. Lang drew a tripping call 18 seconds into the sudden death period, and on the ensuing power play Cepis moved the puck to F Tyler Murovich who put the puck quickly on goal. Cann made the initial save, but Lang pounced on the rebound and blasted the puck into the back of the net to propel the Solar Bears to the 4-3 overtime decision.

Three Stars: 1. M. Lang (ORL); 2. J. Cepis (ORL); 3. A. Jenks (FLA)

Power Plays: ORL: 1/4; FLA: 0/4

Shots: ORL: 23; FLA: 45

Notes:

F Jacob Cepis notched the second hat trick of the year for the Solar Bears. F Mickey Lang collected the other one on February 11 at the Amway Center... Cepis notched four points tonight to also tie a season high for points in game with four, set by Lang on February 11... With the win, the Solar Bears are now one point back from South Carolina for first place in the Eastern Conference... The Solar Bears have played back-to-back overtime games, and have gone to overtime five times in their last nine contests. They have won four of those five overtime games... The Solar Bears are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games, earning 25 out of 28 possible points... Tonight's game was the last time during the regular season that Orlando faces Florida. The Solar Bears finished with a 8-6-0-0 record against the Everblades.

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