This past weekend, the Norfolk Admirals and South Carolina Stingrays went head to head. They were the lone two meetings between the two clubs. Coming into the weekend, the Stingrays sat in second place in the ECHL South Division, while the Admirals sat in third in the ECHL North Division.
On Friday night, the Admirals shutout the Stingrays by a 3-0 final off the back of Thomas Milic’s first shutout in just his second appearance with Norfolk. Howver, the Stingrays split the weekend series, coming away with a 4-3 win on Saturday night.
Norfolk vs South Carolina Game Recap 01/31/2025
In just his second game back with the Admirals, Milic earned his first shutout of the season, improving to 2-0-0-0. Seth Eisele, on the other hand, dropped to 13-7-1-0 after allowing two goals on 15 shots.
Filip Fornaa Svensson, coming off a four-point performance against the Adirondack Thunder that included a hat trick, kept his strong play going. Just 7:15 into the first period, he scored his first of two goals in the game. A shot from Brandon Osmundson went wide, finding Fornaa Svensson behind the net, where he tucked it in. With the assist, Osmundson extended his point streak to six games (5g-2a). That was the only goal of the period, and the Admirals took a 1-0 lead with an 8-4 shot advantage into the locker room.
In the second period, the Stingrays had several grade-A chances, including a breakaway, but Milic stood tall and turned them aside. Fornaa Svensson gave the Admirals a two-goal lead with his second of the night. A transition play started in the neutral zone, and Fornaa Svensson rifled a shot over Eisele’s blocker. Despite being outshot 7-5 in the period, the Admirals maintained their 2-0 lead heading into the final frame.
The Stingrays made a strong push in the third period, outshooting the Admirals 11-3 and trying to break through. But it was Norfolk that struck again. Brady Fleurent sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 17:16, making it 3-0.
Three Stars
- Milic (22 save shutout)
- Fornaa Svensson (2g)
- Fleurent (1g)
Norfolk vs South Carolina Game Recap 02/01/2025
Coming off a shutout 24 hours earlier, the Admirals turned back to Milic. Allowing four goals on 29 shots, he fell to 2-1-0-0 on the season. Stingrays turned to Garin Bjorklund. He stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced to improve to 9-3-0-2 on the season.
The first period saw the Stingrays take good control of the game. On just their second shot of the game less than eight minutes in, the Stingrays opened the scoring. Charlie Combs collected his 14th goal and 27th point of the season to make it 1-0 Stingrays. That would be all the first period saw as they held a 10-5 shot advantage over the Admirals.
In the second period, the teams traded goals. Josh Wilkins extended the Stingrays’ lead to 2-0 at 11:29 with his 12th of the season. Just under a minute and a half later, Sean Montgomery cut into the Stingrays’ lead with his 12th of the season. With a slight 11-9 shot advantage in the middle frame, the Stingrays kept hold of their 2-1 lead going into their locker room.
Despite not playing well, the Admirals were not completely out of it. Just 3:17 into the third period, Fleurent found the back of the net for his fifth goal in his last four games. The Stingrays were determined to come away with a weekend split as they regained their two-goal lead. Erik Middendorf made it 3-2 at 11:47, then Ryan Hofer made it 4-2 at 14:11. With not enough time left to tie the game, Denis Smirnov added a consolation goal with seven seconds remaining in the game.
Three Stars
- Middendorf (1g,1a)
- Andrew Perrott (2a)
- Montgomery (1g)
Coming Next
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday. The Admirals travel to Reading, PA for a clash with the Reading Royals on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m for Education Day. The Stingrays will travel to Orlando for a meeting with the Orlando Solar Bears at 7:00 p.m.
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