Host Orlando drops ‘tough one’ to Atlanta

Orlando had five players in front of its own net. The Solar Bears were under siege, trying to protect a 4-4 tie as the puck found its way to Atlanta’s Rory Rawlyk, a former Solar Bears player who took a shot. The puck somehow found its way into the net, giving Atlanta a 5-4 lead with 8:25 to go.

It was Rawlyk’s second goal of the night as he lifted Atlanta to an ECHL win over Orlando in front of announced crowd of 5,534 on Friday night at Amway Center.

Friday’s game was the second straight that Solar Bears coach Drake Berehowsky missed because of a medical emergency. Assistant coach John Snowden filled in for Berehowsky.

“Obviously it’s a tough one for us,” Snowden said. “I thought we played a pretty hard game tonight. We did some things that we wanted to do in spurts and then we did some things we really didn’t put into our game plan. We gave ourselves a chance to win. We just gotta wash this one away.”

Orlando (27-19-6-3, 63 points) opened the scoring in the first period.

Chase Witala led a 3-on-2 break passing to Alex Block in the middle who passed to Alex Gacek on the right. Gacek sent the puck across the face of the goal and Witala found the back of the net.

The goal was Witala’s seventh of the season.

The two combined later in the game with Witala assisting Gacek on a power play in the second period.

Gacek finished with one goal and two assists.

But Atlanta (21-25-6-1, 49 points) wouldn’t go down easy.

The Gladiators tied the game up quickly and took a 3-2 lead into the third period before Orlando forward Joe Perry scored his 28th goal of the season, setting a Solar Bears single-season record.

“I guess it’s a special moment for me personally,” Perry said. “Coming into this year I probably wouldn’t have thought I would be putting up these kinds of numbers. It’s a proud moment for myself. Obviously, couldn’t have done it without the help of my teammates.”

Orlando plays Atlanta for the third consecutive game at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Amway Center.