The South Carolina Stingrays returned home from a three-game road trip and dropped a 4-1 decision to the Jacksonville Icemen on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 6,174 fans.
Jacksonville (18-22-3-0) came out quickly on the road in North Charleston. Less than eight minutes into the first period, Adam McMaster found the back of the net, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
South Carolina (27-17-1-0) did not find an answer in the first period, and in the middle frame the Icemen added insurance. Lincoln Griffin doubled Jacksonville’s lead on the power play at 4:13 of the second period. Ryan Pitoscia added to the lead just over three minutes later, putting Jacksonville ahead 3-0 with 12:15 left in the frame.
Trailing by three goals, South Carolina brought in goaltender Ty Taylor to replace Seth Eisele in search of a spark. The Stingrays held the Icemen without a shot for the remainder of the period but could not solve Jacksonville netminder Michael Bullion, who preserved the three-goal lead through 40 minutes.
Early in the third period, South Carolina went to the power play and capitalized. Charlie Combs jammed home his third goal of the season 4:47 into the final frame, cutting the deficit to two, 3-1.
Following Combs’ goal, the Stingrays generated chances, but Bullion turned aside each one. With over four minutes left in regulation, South Carolina pulled Taylor for the extra attacker, but Christopher Brown scored an empty-netter with 3:23 remaining in the third period to seal a 4-1 Jacksonville victory.
The Stingrays head back on the road Friday, February 13, to take on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.