ESTERO, Fla. – After winning their third consecutive Kelly Cup, the Florida Everblades kicked off their preseason this Sunday at Hertz Arena with a 4-1 victory over the Orlando Solar Bears.
With both teams adjusting to the pace of their first game back on ice, the game remained a scoreless draw for most of the first period. That changed when Carson Gicewicz broke through to put the Everblades on the board late in the first period with the help of Santino Centorame and Colin Theisen, who contributed to the goal.
Everblades starting goaltender, Cam Johnson turned away all seven of Orlando’s shots in the opening frame. Meanwhile, Orlando’s Michael Simpson faced a total of 11 shots on goal with Gicewicz tallying one past him.
The Everblades strengthened their offensive presence in the second period by almost tripling their shots on goal to 31 while the Solar Bears struggled to get through their blue line. Almost halfway into gameplay, Logan Lambdin saw past Simpson to secure the lead by two alongside Craig Needham and Greg Meireles.
After playing from behind for the better half of the game, the Solar Bears flipped the script late in the third period, sneaking a shot past Everblades backup goalie Will Cranley. However, Santino Centorame responded with a goal to restore the two-goal cushion. In an effort to close the gap, Orlando pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker, but Jesse Lansdell capitalized on the empty-net opportunity and scored to extend the lead to 4-1.
By the final whistle, the Everblades registered a total of 46 shots on goal against an effort of 27 from Orlando to seal the deal on a 4-1 preseason victory over Orlando.
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