The Stingrays were back in action in the Coliseum on Sunday, coming off a 7-4 win on home ice against Atlanta. Captain Garet Hunt returned to the lineup on the fourth line, replacing defenseman turned forward Bryce Montgomery.
Kameron Kielly struck first against Ryan Bednard with a nice top-shelf goal. The Swap Rabbits quickly retaliated 16 seconds later with a goal from Ben Freeman. Greenville quickly took the lead, with Brett Kemp getting another one past Garin Bjorklund.
The ice started to heat up, as six penalties would be called within the second half of the period. Tyson Empey took a seat in the box for interference but wouldn’t be there for long as Nikita Pavlynchev would find the back of the net nine seconds into the power play. A delayed penalty would be called on the Stingrays, which turned into a full-out brawl on the ice. Tyson Empey and Kameron Kielly would head to the box for South Carolina as Pavlunchev and Coyle would head in for Greenville, both teams for roughing and cross-checking. Regular play would continue with five men on the ice.
The penalties continued into the second period, with a full-out brawl between the benches. Ian Mackey and Garet Hunt, who is fresh off a suspension, quickly tossed off the gloves in the action with Tanner Eberle. Mackey headed to the locker room with a misconduct and a roughing minor, as Hunt and Eberle headed to the box for roughing as well. There was no score change during the second period, as the Stingrays killed one other penalty and had two other man advantages that they couldn’t capitalize on. South Carolina continued Bednard, as they tripped the shots from the first period and held Greenville to only six in the period.
The third period gave the Stingrays an early man advantage as Mark Louis spent some time in the Doghouse. Bjorklund made two huge saves on breakaways by the Swamp Rabbits to keep the club in the match.
The Stingrays kept the pressure up in the offensive zone but was denied by many flying bodies in front of Bednard. Right off the Stingrays power play, Carter Souch netted one unassisted, increasing their lead to. 4-1. Bjorklund headed to the bench with three minutes left for the extra attacker, attempting to correct a three-goal deficit. Joe Leahy and Tyson Empey started to dance by the net with 18 seconds left, triggering another team brawl. Bjorklund returned to goal for the face-off and would hold off the attempt at another goal, officially calling the game.
South Carolina hits the road on Friday to take on the Jacksonville Icemen before returning home for the remainder of the weekend to face Orlando on Saturday and Jacksonville again on Sunday.
