North Charleston, SC –The Cincinnati Cyclones (28-25-6-3) erased three two-goal deficits to defeat South Carolina Stingrays (33-26-2-3) 5-4 in the shootout in front of 5,399 Sunday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum. Defenseman Derek Keller (3a) and forwards Matt Scherer (1g, 1a) and Tommy Goebel (1g, 2a) had multi-point games for the Stingrays.
Box Score
Stingrays forward Luke Popko opened the scoring 9:35 into the first period lifting a shot over the left shoulder of Cyclones netminder Brian Foster from the bottom of the right-wing circle. Defensemen Patrick Cullity and Keller grabbed assists. Just over a minute later, Scherer gave the Stingrays a two-goal lead at 10:57 from defenseman Nate Kiser and Goebel.
The Cyclones cut the lead in half with a power-play tally from forward Mathieu Aubin at 15:46 from center Barret Ehgoetz. With under a minute to play, winger Tommy Goebel made it 3-1 Rays tucking a shot inside the left post of Foster at 19:28 from Scherer and Keller. Ehgoetz pulled the contest back within one on the power play deflecting a shot from defenseman Eric Kattelus past Owen at 19:51.
Stingrays forward Nikita Kashirsky reclaimed a two-goal advantage on the power play at 12:47 of the second stanza burying a backdoor pass from Goebel inside the right-wing post. Keller registered the second assist.
Cincinnati knocked it back within a goal at 2:28 of the third period when Kattelus lifted a backhanded shot under the right arm of Owen from the top of the right-wing circle. Forwards Aubin and Dan Eves picked up the assists. With Foster pulled for the extra skater late in the third period, Cyclones defenseman Brock Sheahan tied the game with his second goal of the year at 19:13 from forwards Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Brady Calla. Aubin completed the comeback for the Cyclones with the lone goal in the shootout.
Foster earned his third straight victory over the Stingrays stopping 27 of 31 shots. Owen dropped to 7-6-1-2 blocking 31 of 35 Cyclones chances.
The Stingrays kick off a three-game road trip Thursday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m. against the Kalamazoo Wings at Wings Stadium. Visit www.stingrayshockey.com for the latest news, game notes and radio schedule. The Rays return to the North Charleston Coliseum on Tuesday, March 22 against the Greenville Road Warriors at 7:05 p.m. Seeing the Stingrays gets Cheaper by the Dozen! Get 12 tickets and 12 hats for $120! Also grab two tickets for the price of one and get two exclusive Stingrays hats in the Buy One Get One Package! Call the Stingrays Office at (843) 744-2248 or visit www.stingrayshockey.com for more information. Become a fan of the Stingrays on Facebook at Facebook.com/SCStingraysHockey. Stingrays Hockey – It’s More Than Just a Game.
