By: Stingrays Media
The South Carolina Stingrays (1-0-0-0) doubled up the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (0-1-0-0) by a score of 4-2 on Saturday night in the season opener for both of these squads behind Hunter Shepard's phenomenal performance.
Andrew Cherniwchan got the crowd roaring early on by kicking off the scoring on a shorthanded goal 17:33 into the opening frame following an Alex Brink penalty. Jake Massie fed a long stretch pass to the opposing blue line and it was off to the races for Cherrniwchan's 126th goal of his career.
Greenville evened the score at the 10:22 mark of the middle period before Massie jumped into the play and created his own opportunity. A stutter-step and a burst of speed led to the blueliner's wraparound goal to beat Swamp Rabbits' goaltender, John Lethemon (0-1-0-0), to regain the 2-1 lead.
Lawton Courtnall widened the gap with an insurance goal only 31 seconds into the final period as he got tripped up, hit the deck, and was still able to push the puck past Lethemon. Late in the game, Greenville cut the deficit back down to one on a Dallas Gerard goal with the extra attacker on the ice.
Courtnall's second of the contest sealed the deal with 42 seconds remaining, earning him the second star of the night.
Stingrays' netminder, Hunter Shepard (1-0-0-0), stood on his head in the contest and turned back 40 saves of 42 shot attempts.
The Stingrays travel to Greenville next Saturday, October 30th to take on the Swamp Rabbits with puck drop set for 7:05pm. The two teams will return to Charleston on Wednesday, November 3rd for College Night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
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