DULUTH, G.A. – Tied in the 3rd period, the South Carolina Stingrays got a game-winning goal from Simon Pinard midway through the final frame to push South Carolina past the Atlanta Gladiators, 3-2, on Sunday at the Gas South Arena.
Atlanta (9-4-0-0) opened the scoring quickly just under four minutes in taking a 1-0 lead on home ice, but South Carolina (10-5-0-0) responded in a big way. Just under four minutes later, Romain Rodzinski, playing in his 100th ECHL game, let a shot go from the blue line that produced a rebound for Ludwig Persson to tap home his first goal as a Stingray, tying the game at one.
Less than three minutes later, the Stingrays dominated in the attacking zone and Kyler Kupka wrapped a pass to the back post for Kaden Bohlsen who roofed his fifth goal this season, sending South Carolina ahead, 2-1.
Following the goal from Bohlsen, both netminders, Seth Eisele for South Carolina and T.J. Semptimphelter for Atlanta, settled in, keeping both offenses at bay until the 3rd.
3:41 into the final frame, Ryan Nolan scored for Atlanta, tying the game at two, and both sides pressed for the go-ahead goal. After penalties against both teams made it 4-on-4, Kupka found a step behind the Atlanta defense for a breakaway. His shot went off the crossbar, but a trailing Simon Pinard cleaned up the rebound with 10:36 left in regulation, giving the Stingrays the lead again, 3-2. Eisele and the Stingrays locked down the Gladiators for the final 10 minutes and picked up their tenth win of the season, 3-2.
In the victory, Persson had his first multi-point game as a Stingray while Kupka added another multi-point performance. Pinard scored his team-leading sixth goal with the game-winner in the 3rd. Eisele stopped 22 shots on 24 attempts for his third win of the season. South Carolina with the win moves back into first place in the South Division.
The Stingrays and Gladiators meet again on Wednesday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:10 p.m. from the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.