At the tail end of a four-game homestand, the South Carolina Stingrays scored twice in both the second and third periods to skate past the Jacksonville Icemen, 4-1, on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 5,041 fans.
After a quiet first period, South Carolina (26-14-1-0) jumped in front early in the middle frame. Charlie Combs received a pass from Stan Cooley at the near circle and beat Jacksonville (17-19-2-0) netminder Cameron Rowe short side to put the Stingrays ahead, 1-0.
Just over seven minutes later, Connor Moore wired home his second goal of the season on the power play, doubling the Stingrays’ advantage with 7:30 remaining in the second period.
Late in the second period, while on a four-minute power play, the Icemen eventually broke through. Bennett MacArthur scored with 1:15 left in the frame to cut South Carolina’s lead in half, 2-1.
The goal was the only one allowed by Stingrays goaltender Seth Eisele through the first 40 minutes, as he preserved the one-goal advantage heading into the third period.
Jacksonville pressured Eisele early in the final 20 minutes, but the netminder turned aside every chance the visitors generated. With less than five minutes remaining, South Carolina forced a turnover in the defensive zone, and Kaden Bohlsen capitalized on a breakaway to restore the Stingrays’ two-goal cushion, 3-1.
Ludwig Persson added an empty-net goal with 41 seconds remaining to seal South Carolina’s 4-1 victory over Jacksonville.
Eisele earned his ninth win of the season, stopping 29 of 30 shots, including all 12 he faced in the third period. Persson and Simon Pinard each recorded multi-point nights in the victory for the Stingrays, while nine different players tallied at least one point.
The Stingrays and Icemen wrap up a home-and-home set tomorrow evening. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.