NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The South Carolina Stingrays earned a 5-2 victory over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in front of more than 5,000 fans at the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday night. Scoring for the Stingrays was Jon McDonald, Erik Middendorf (2), Josh Wilkins, and Jamie Engelbert. Goaltender Mitchell Gibson was in the net and made 26 saves on 28 shots.
At 13:02 in the first, McDonald buried his second goal of the season with Jayden Lee and Wilkins getting an assist. Middendorf doubled the Stingray lead 41 seconds later when he snuck the in the loose puck from in front of the crease.
At 5:23 into the second period, `Wilkins sunk his second powerplay goal in as many games. He one-timed a cross-ice feed from Alexander Suzdalev into the open net. Next, Middendorf made it 4-0 with a shot five minutes later. Seven minutes later, Engelbert knocked in a powerplay goal to extend South Carolina’s lead to 5-0.
In the third period, Greenville outshot the Rays 19-6 and got goals from Bryce Brodzinski and Tate Singleton, but the Stingrays held fast, winning 5-2.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Julie Taylor for highlights from the game.
