SAVANNAH, GA—The South Carolina Stingrays defeated the Savannah Ghost Pirates 6-4 on Sunday afternoon. Garin Bjorklund made 29 saves and picked up his 14th victory of the year. Jacob Hudson tallied his first career hat trick and earned the game’s number-one star.
The Stingrays struck first on a shorthanded tally by Austin Magera, who ripped a wrist shot past Savannah netminder Jesper Vikman to make it 1-0 Stingrays. Hudson made it 2-0 when he stole the puck at the right-wing circle and snapped it past Vikman to double the Stingray lead.
Savannah cut the deficit to one when Brent Pedersen wired a wrist shot past Bjorklund right after the Ghost Pirates had won a face-off.
The Stingrays restored their two-goal lead when Hudson tallied his second goal of the afternoon just 46 seconds into the second period. Nick Leivermann grabbed the puck on the left wall and fired a shot that Hudson redirected past Vikman to make it 3-1 South Carolina.
Simon Pinard pulled Savannah back within one with a power play goal from the bottom of the left circle. The goal was Pinard’s team-leading 20th goal of the season.
Marko Reifenberger made it 4-2 Stingrays when he scored on a wrist shot from the high slot. The goal was Reifenberger’s first professional tally.
Pederson made it 4-3 when he knocked in a centering feed from Ross Armour. The goal was his second of the afternoon.
With 4:41 remaining in the second period, Hudson completed his hat trick. He knocked in a loose puck right in front of the goal to make it 5-3 Stingrays.
Halfway through the third period, the Ghost Pirates cut it to 5-4 with a late tally from Pat Guay, but that was as close as they would get. Magera iced the game with a late empty netter to make it a 6-4 final.
The Stingrays are back in action on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum, where they will take on the Orlando Solar Bears at 7:05 pm.
