The South Carolina Stingrays fell to the Savannah Ghost Pirates, 5-1, on Saturday evening at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of a sellout crowd of 7,342 fans on Military Appreciation Night, presented by Budweiser and Folds of Honor.
Following a loss on Friday evening, South Carolina (22-13-1-0) came out firing in the 1st period. The Stingrays pressured Savannah (18-13-2-1) throughout the first 20 minutes, and opened the scoring late in the frame. John Fusco fired a shot from the point that Stan Cooley deflected, giving the Stingrays a 1-0 lead with 2:04 remaining in the period.
In the 2nd period, the Ghost Pirates settled in and broke through with less than five minutes remaining. Logan Drevitch punched home a rebound from the faceoff dot to tie the game at one with 4:56 left in the middle period. Both goaltenders, Garin Bjorklund for South Carolina, and Evan Cormier for Savannah, denied every other chance across the first 40 minutes keeping the game knotted at one going to the final 20 minutes.
After multiple chances on the power play in the first eight minutes of the 3rd period, the Stingrays could not capitalize. With 8:11 left in regulation, Riley Hughes gave the visitors their first lead of the night, putting the Ghost Pirates ahead, 2-1. Just over three minutes later, Bryce Brodzinski doubled the Savannah advantage, making it 3-1 Ghost Pirates with 5:05 remaining. The Stingrays pulled Bjorklund to bring out the extra attacker with three minutes left and Savannah cashed in twice as the Ghost Pirates handed the Stingrays their second straight loss, 5-1.
The Stingrays finish off the three-game set with the Ghost Pirates tomorrow afternoon at Enmarket Arena. Puck drop is slated for 3 p.m. from Savannah, Georgia.