North Charleston, SC – The South Carolina Stingrays took a 2-0 lead in the third period, but couldn’t hold on as they fell to Gwinnett Gladiators 3-2 at the North Charleston Coliseum.
“I just didn’t see the compete in these guys,” said Head Coach Jared Bednar. “If they play hard and come to compete and lose, I can live with that; I just didn’t see that tonight. That is unacceptable.”
The first period was one of the quickest, not to mention most bland, periods the Rays have had this season. Neither team scored a goal. Neither team had a power play. Shots on goal were eight to six in favor of Gwinnett through the first 20 minutes of play.
The second period started out the same until Nate Kiser and Daniel Sullivan kicked up the intensity with a well timed, and well executed, fight. After the fisticuffs, both teams seemed to more energy and intensity out on the ice. At 15:42, that energy came to a head when Brad Farynuk got his fourth goal of the season to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. The goal, which came on the Stingrays second power play opportunity, was assisted by Johan Kroll and Travis Morin.
In the third period, The Rays stretched their lead to 2-0 on a three on two breakaway. Pierre-Luc O’Brien found Trent Campbell coming down the wing and he put it past Josh Johnson for his fifth goal of the year. The goal came at 2:33 of the period and was assisted by O’Brien and Matt Scherer. The lead however was short lived as Brad Schell scored just :17 seconds later to cut the lead in half, and Preston Briggs tied things up just five minutes after that. At 13:33, Jim Jorgensen scored his first goal of the year past Bobby Goepfert to give the Gladiators their first lead of the night, and the only one they would need.
The winning goaltender was Johnson who stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced. The losing goaltender was Goepfert who stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced. The Rays went 1-3 on the power play while killing off both short handed opportunities they faced.
The Rays will be back in action on Friday night when they travel to Charlotte to take on the Checkers. Game time will be at 7:00 P.M. You can hear the game live on ESPN radio 910 the TEAM starting with the Benitos pre-game show beginning at 6:45.
Don’t miss all the fast-paced, hard-hitting action! Individual tickets can be purchased at the North Charleston Coliseum box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (843) 554-6060 and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Full and partial season tickets are available by calling (843) 744-2248 or by visiting online at www.stingrayshockey.com. Stingrays Hockey – A Whole Lot Cooler!
