First Period:
The Stingrays wasted no time in drawing first blood to start the new year in the Coliseum, with Tyson Empey scoring after 46 seconds of play. Patrick Harper was hauled into the box with 13 minutes remaining in the period for the first penalty kill of the game. Reid Cooper stayed strong and had great puck awareness in goal to kill the penalty. From the first few seconds of the game, it was a physical battle between both teams.
Cody Sylvester was called for holding with less than six minutes remaining in the period. Nicky Leivermann scored after eight seconds on the man advantage. South Carolina became sharpshooters for this Country Theme Night, as the second power play ended in a Kevin Oneil goal after five seconds. O’neil was not done; after a pass with some heat on, it was deflected by a Gladiator to go top-shelf past Grigals.
Cody Sylvester was able to sneak one past Cooper on the rebound to put Atlanta on the board with 37 seconds left in the period.
Second Period:
Nicky Leiverman was not done on the night, as he took a shot from the blue line, causing the newly entered Barone to lose the puck and slide between the legs. Josh Wilkins finally made some noise in the second period after a tic-tac-toe sequence ended in a Magera shot, and Wilkins capitalized on the rebound. Wilkins currently leads the club in points and goals, marking his 15th on the season. The domination continued for the home team as Ian Mackey tallied his first of the year on a backdoor goal around Barone.
The Gladiators started chopping at the lead with a goal from Jack Matier with 20 seconds left in the second period, making it 7-2.
Third Period:
The heat continued into the third, with the pressure intensifying in each of the offensive zones. Atlanta continued to put pressure on Cooper with a goal from Michael Marchesan. Cooper had left the net to retrieve the puck as a Glad beat him to it; Marcheasan found the back of the net before Cooper could get into position.
A delayed penalty would be called on Atlanta, but Colin Swoyer would also be hauled in with him for interference, both clubs now having four men on the ice. With one second remaining, Josh Wilkins and Reece Vitelli would also be taken to the box, both for cross-checking, but no goals would come from either penalty.
Leibold took a hard hit on the ice and was slow to get up as Ian Mackey dropped the gloves with Jacob Graves for a nice tilt. Atlanta would get one more past Cooper midway through the period, but it would not be enough to catch the Rays as they would win by a score of 7-4.
The Stingrays return to action tomorrow, Sunday the 6th, to take on state rivals, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, at the North Charleston Coliseum.
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