ESTERO, Fla. - After a 4-1 Everblades victory on Friday night, the Orlando Solar Bears found redemption in Saturday’s preseason finale with a 5-2 final score at Hertz Arena.

The first period featured no scoring with each team seeing their fair share of opportunities around the net. The Solar Bears led 12-9 in shots on goal after twenty minutes.Heading into the second period, Orlando raced out of the locker room to score their first goal at the 1:38 mark. With traffic building in the slot, Dylan Fitze scooped up the loose puck and blasted it over the shoulder of Everblades goaltender Tomas Vomacka. Jake McGrew and Kyle Topping earned assists as the Solar Bears went up 1-0.Blake Winiecki earned the equalizing goal for the Everblades to tie the game at 12:17 of period two. John McCarron launched a slapshot off the back wall, landing in front of the net where an uncontested Winiecki potted his second goal of the preseason. The Solar Bears responded with two more strikes as Fabrizio Ricci and Joseph Garreffa each added their name to the score sheet, putting Orlando into the second intermission with a 3-1 edge.The Everblades’ woes spilled into the third period with a difficult bounce from Orlando’s Joseph Magreffa trickling into the net after 96 seconds. John McCarron snapped in a pointblank goal four minutes later, but it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback as Orlando’s Chad Duchesne hit an empty net to secure a 5-2 Solar Bears win.The Everblades now look forward to their season opener on Saturday, October 23 when they host the Jacksonville Icemen at Hertz Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm and tickets can be purchased by visiting HERE.

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