By: Stingrays Media
South Carolina Stingrays' goaltender Hunter Shepard has been selected as the ECHL Goaltender of the Month for December.
The 25-year-old netminder went 2-0-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and a save percentage of .935 in three appearances during the opening month of the 2020-21 ECHL season.
Shepard allowed two goals or less in two of his three appearances while making at least 26 saves in all three games, including stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced in a 2-1 victory at Jacksonville on Dec. 18 to earn his first professional win.
Under contract to Hershey of the American Hockey League, Shepard is 2-1-1 in five appearances this season while ranking seventh in the ECHL with a 2.07 goals-against average and ninth with a .928 save percentage. He leads rookie goaltenders, and is sixth overall, with 261 minutes played.
Prior to turning pro, Shepard, a native of Grand Rapids, Minn., appeared in 119 career games at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he went 76-37-5 with 17 shutouts, a 1.94 goals-against average and a save percentage of .922.
The backstop guided the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA National Championships in 2018 and 2019 and started an NCAA-record 115 straight games from Oct. 21, 2017 to Mar. 7, 2020. He was a three-time Mike Richter Award Finalist and a three-time All-NCHC selection in his illustrious NCAA tenure.
