The South Carolina Stingrays seven-game win streak came to an end as they fell to the Toledo Walleye in a shootout, 4-3, on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 5,370 fans.
After only mustering one goal on Friday, Toledo (35-14-4-4) struck quickly on Saturday. Mitch Lewandowski scored only 24 seconds in giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
South Carolina (38-18-1-1) searched for a response, and found one less than four minutes later. Romain Rodzinski deflected home a shot from the point, tying the game at one.
The Walleye pulled back in front with 13:59 left in the first, but the Stingrays had an answer shortly after. Ludwig Persson netted his second goal in as many nights, tying the game at two with 11:10 left in the opening frame. After the early flurry offensively, both teams settled in as the Stingrays and Walleye went to the second period tied.
In the second period, the Stingrays took their first lead of the night nearly midway through the frame. Bryan Moore found Ben Hawerchuk on a breakaway and Hawerchuk slotted home the go-ahead goal with 10:30 left in the second period. Toledo pressed for an equalizer but South Carolina took the one-goal lead to the third.
After the Stingrays killed off a penalty eight minutes into the third period, the Walleye tied the game minutes later. Tanner Dickinson scored with 10:11 left in regulation knotting the contest, 3-3. Neither side found a winner in regulation or in overtime, and for the first time this season, South Carolina went to a shootout.
After a scoreless first round, Garrett Van Whye scored for the Walleye in the second. Toledo goaltender Matt Jurusik then stopped Ben Hawerchuk in the third round to win the game for Toledo, as the Walleye beat South Carolina, 4-3.
The Stingrays are on the road on Sunday afternoon against the Atlanta Gladiators. Puck drop is slated for 3:10 p.m. from the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.