JACKSONVILLE, FL. - The Stingrays fell 5-1 to the Jacksonville Icemen on Saturday night. Kyler Kupka scored for the Stingrays, while South Carolina goaltender Seth Eisele stopped 21 shots.
The Icemen took an early lead four minutes into the game. After a face-off win by Jacksonville, Logan Cockerill took a pass from Ivan Chukarov and wired it by Eisele to give Jacksonville a 1-0 lead.
Stingrays were able to tie the game on the power play. As they controlled the zone, Zac Funk sent the puck over to Josh Wilkins, and Wilkins’ slap shot was deflected through the five-hole of Icemen goaltender Matt Vernon by Kupka. Wilkins and Funk assisted Kupka’s team-leading 16th goal of the year.
Jacksonville took the lead back in the second period. After Olivier Nadeau deflected Chris Grando’s shot from the left hash mark to make it a 2-1 game.
The Icemen doubled their lead halfway through the middle frame when Noah Laaouan snapped a shot through traffic to make it 3-1.
The Icemen stretched their lead to three in the third period when Robert Calisti beat Eisele with a wrist shot from the slot to put the Icemen up 4-1.
Jacksonville got one more goal on a power play after Cockerill buried a one-timer to make it a 5-1 game.
The Stingrays’ next game will be against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Friday, January 17, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena at 7:05 PM.
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