GREENVILLE, S.C. – Trailing by a goal heading to the third period, the South Carolina Stingrays scored three goals in the final eight minutes to skate past the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, 4-2, on Friday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
South Carolina (28-17-1-0) struck first late in the opening period. Connor Moore blasted home a slap shot from the point with 1:49 left in the frame, giving the Stingrays a 1-0 lead going to the second period.
In the second period, Greenville (19-19-4-1) answered on the power play. Wade Murphy scored with 13:24 left in the period, tying the game at one. Just under ten minutes later, Jack Brackett deflected a shot past Stingrays goaltender Seth Eisele, giving the Swamp Rabbits their first lead of the evening, 2-1.
South Carolina was unable to answer late in the second and entered the third period trailing by one. In the final frame, Greenville pushed for an insurance goal, but Eisele turned aside each chance to keep the deficit at one.
With just over seven minutes remaining, the Stingrays found an equalizer. Romain Rodzinski banked a shot off the end boards that caromed to the near post, where Patrick Guzzo cleaned up the rebound to tie the game at two.
14 seconds later, South Carolina regained the lead. Kaden Bohlsen centered a pass to the crease where Stanley Cooley, knocked down in the blue paint, tapped home the go-ahead goal with 6:47 remaining in regulation.
With the Stingrays now leading 3-2, Greenville searched for an answer. With less than two minutes remaining, the Swamp Rabbits pulled their netminder bringing out the extra attacker. With just over a minute remaining in the third, Simon Pinard capitalized on a Swamp Rabbits turnover and buried an empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 win for South Carolina.
South Carolina snapped its three-game losing skid in the victory as Eisele stopped 29 of 31 shots for his tenth win this season. Pinard notched his 12th multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist, while eight different Stingrays recorded a point in the win.