By: Stingrays Media
The South Carolina Stingrays (26-12-4-1) dropped a 7-5 final to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (25-12-7-0) on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The Stingrays jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Connor Moore's second goal of the year at the 8:08 mark of the first period. Moore flung a shot from the blue line that deflected off the Greenville defense and past David Hrenak for the 1-0 lead.
Greenville evened the game with 2:50 remaining in the first period on Josh McKechney's sixth tally of the season. Alex Ierullo broke down the right wall and fed McKechney on the right circle where he snapped a shot past a screened Tyler Wall for the 1-1 game.
Joe Gatenby gave the Swamp Rabbits their first lead of the contest 18 seconds later on a wrist shot from inside the blue line. Once again, heavy traffic in front of Wall screened the netminder and helped Gatenby net his sixth goal of the season for the 2-1 advantage.
Ierullo added a goal of his own 5:30 into the second period for his 16th goal of the season. Greenville forced an offensive turnover where McKechney fed Ierullo for the close-quarters tally and the 3-1 lead.
Moore cut the deficit back to one with his second tally of the night. On the power play, Moore skated to the left circle and snapped a shot over the glove of Hrenak for the 3-2 game.
Lawton Courtnall tied the game at three goals apiece at the 8:51 mark of the second period. Tic-tac-toe passing from Bear Hughes and Kevin O'Neil ended with Courtnall lifting the puck past Hrenak for his first goal of the season.
Greenville regained the one-goal advantage with 2:28 remaining in the middle stanza on Ethan Somoza's 12th tuck of the year. Somoza gained a step on the Stingrays' defender and slid a shot through the five-hole of Wall for the 4-3 lead.
Brett Kemp doubled the lead at the 3:27 mark of the third frame on his 11th goal of the year. Kemp led an odd-man rush and sniped a shot over the blocker of Wall for the 5-3 advantage.
Ryan Scarfo brought the Stingrays back within one goal on his seventh marker of the year. Quick passing from Moore and Matt Anderson gave Scarfo an open net for the one-timer that beat Hrenak.
Greenville took back a two-goal lead on L.A. Grissom's third goal of the season with 4:45 remaining in regulation. Grissom entered the zone late and wound up for a slapshot that beat Wall through the five-hole for the 6-4 lead.
With under two minutes left in regulation, the Stingrays pulled Wall for the extra attacker leaving an empty net for Max Martin's sixth goal of the year. Martin turned and flung a shot from his own end into the back of the net for the 7-4 advantage.
The Stingrays didn't quit with time winding down as Martin Haš sniped his third goal of the year over the glove of Hrenak with 20 seconds left in the third period for the 7-5 final.
The Stingrays return to action tomorrow, February 11th, as they hit the road to take on the Savannah Ghost Pirates at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, GA. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.