North Charleston, SC – The South Carolina Stingrays and Florida Everblades battled for 92:19 spilling into two overtimes before they fell 3-2 with their series now tied up at two games apiece.

“Anytime you lose like that it’s tough for the guys to take,” said Assistant Coach Cail MacLean. “Everyone played hard tonight, but we’re going to have to forget about this game and just look towards tomorrow.”

Florida took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Milan Gajic, his second goal of the series, at 8:07 off a rebound. The Rays would respond later in the period, at 17:29, when Jeff Corey tipped in a shot from Zach Tarkir and Trent Campbell on the power play to tie the game up at one. The goal was Corey’s first of the game and fourth of the playoffs.

The second period played out much like the first as Ross Carlson retook the lead for Florida with his seventh goal of the playoffs making it a 2-1 game at 13:34. Just 1:16 later, Jeff Corey struck again, getting his second goal of the game, his fifth of the series. The goal, assisted by Pierre-Luc O’Brien and Campbell, came at 14:50 of the period and tied the game up at two heading into the third period.

The third period went scoreless, as did the first overtime period, forcing the game into double overtime. It took 12:19 in the second overtime period until Mark Lee got his fourth goal of the playoffs, a game winner on the power play. The goal came off a rebound and was assisted by Kevin Baker and Matt Duffy, winning the game 3-2.

The winning goaltender was David Leggio who stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced. The losing goaltender was James Reimer who stopped 40 of the 43 shots he faced. The Rays went 1-6 on the power play while Florida went 1-7 on the man advantage.

The Rays will be back in action on tomorrow afternoon, as they look to retake the lead in the series in game five of this best-of-seven game series. Game time will be at 5:00. If you can’t make it out to the game, you can catch all the action by tuning in to Sports Radio 1450 with the Benitos Pre-game show beginning at 4:45.

Florida Everblades 3 (OT) at South Carolina Stingrays 2 - Status: Final 2OT
May 2, 2009 - North Charleston Coliseum

Florida 1 1 0 0 1 - 3
South Carolina 1 1 0 0 0 - 2

1st Period-1, Florida, Gajic 3 (Duffy, Metcalf), 8:07. 2, South Carolina, Corey 4 (Tarkir, Campbell), 17:29 (pp). Penalties-Farynuk Sc (interference), 2:32; Sweetland Fla (boarding), 9:07; Campbell Sc (roughing), 11:59; Carlson Fla (cross-checking), 16:56; Herauf Fla (spearing major, game misconduct - spearing), 18:42.

2nd Period-3, Florida, Carlson 7 (Thelen, Baker), 13:34. 4, South Carolina, Corey 5 (O'Brien, Campbell), 14:50. Penalties-Dubuc Sc (hooking), 7:43; Roy Fla (holding), 10:27; Lee Fla (interference), 17:36.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-O'Brien Sc (tripping), 3:49; O'Brien Sc (tripping), 6:06.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Cook Fla (tripping), 0:21.

2nd OT Period-5, Florida, Lee 4 (Baker, Duffy), 12:19 (pp). Penalties-O'Brien Sc (hooking), 7:06; Kashirsky Sc (delay of game), 11:11.

Shots on Goal-Florida 13-7-7-11-5-43. South Carolina 11-8-6-6-4-35.
Power-play opportunities-Florida 1 of 7; South Carolina 1 of 6.
Goalies-Florida, Leggio 6-1-2-0 (35 shots-33 saves). South Carolina, Reimer 1-1-1-0 (43 shots-40 saves).
A-2,655
Referees-Geno Binda (15).
Linesmen-Mike Hamilton (80), Paul Reid (97).