On the verge of clinching a berth to the Kelly Cup Playoffs, the South Carolina Stingrays needed two third period goals as they held on late to beat the Allen Americans, 5-4, on Saturday evening at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 5,430 fans.
For the second straight night, South Carolina (40-18-1-2) found the opener early from Anthony Rinaldi. The forward finished a chance in the low slot giving the Stingrays a 1-0 lead 3:14 in.
Over ten minutes later, the Stingrays doubled their advantage. Kyler Kupka knocked home a centering feed from Dean Loukus on the power play to put South Carolina ahead, 2-0.
Allen (32-23-5-0) did not go away quietly. Danny Katic cut the Stingrays lead in half with 4:06 left in the first, and early in the second, Harrison Blaisdell tied the game at two with a shorthanded goal.
With the two-goal lead gone, South Carolina was searching for a response, and one of their newest acquisitions delivered again.
Rinaldi tucked home an odd-man chance just over five minutes into the second period pushing South Carolina back in front, 3-2. The Stingrays pressed for insurance, peppering Americans goalie Marco Costantini with 17 shots in the middle frame alone, but South Carolina only took the one-goal lead to the third.
Over seven minutes into the final frame, Kupka punched home his second goal of the night building South Carolina’s lead back to two, 4-2, but the Americans started to chip away. Michael Gildon made it a one-goal game again with 8:19 left in regulation.
Heading into the final minutes with only a one-goal cushion, the Stingrays got a much needed insurance goal. Casey McDonald snapped home his second goal in as many nights with 5:04 remaining, giving the Stingrays a 5-3 lead.
The Americans pulled their goalie to bring out the extra-attacker with 2:32 left and it paid off. Katic scored his second of the night making it 5-4 in favor of South Carolina with 1:58 remaining.
Allen again brought out the extra-attacker looking for an equalizer but the Stingrays withstood a flurry from the Americans in the final minute to win 5-4, clinching a berth to the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
With the victory, the Stingrays have qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the 30th time in 33 seasons. South Carolina has points in 15 of its last 16 games, and have 24 wins at home this season, second most in the ECHL.