Rays Erase 3-Goal Deficit To Stun Americans, 5-4

The South Carolina Stingrays (5-4-0-0) erased an early three-goal hole by scoring five straight and held on to defeat the Allen Americans (3-5-0-1) by a final score of 5-4 on Friday night at the Allen Event Center.Forward Grant Besse led the way with a four-point night by scoring two goals and assisting on two others, while Andrew Cherniwchan picked up a goal and two assists and Sam Fioretti added two helpers.The Americans scored twice in the opening period and took a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Both Johnny McInnis (7:22) and Dante Salituro (18:54) were able to score on rebounds left in front of the Rays net to give Allen the 2-0 advantage.Allen pushed their lead to 3-0 when Chase Lang scored on a deflection at 7:08 of the middle frame.But after Americans’ defenseman Davis Makowski was assessed a major penalty for spearing at 8:19 of the period, things started to turn in the Stingrays’ direction.SC picked up momentum and scored three times in a span of just 6:13 to even the game. Besse got the Rays on the board during 4-on-4 play at 9:10 with his sixth goal of the season, taking a pass from Fioretti at the center of the offensive zone on the rush before wristing home a quick shot for his sixth tally of the year.Then, after South Carolina was unsuccessful on a 3-minute man-advantage, Cherniwchan put the puck on net from the right point and found the twine for his fifth goal of the season to make it a 3-2 game at 13:25.It was Jake Kamrass who evened things up for the Rays, scoring his fifth goal of the year at 15:23 after a perfect feed by Christian Horn. Fioretti earned the second assist on the play after starting the rush for South Carolina.The Stingrays continued their new-found momentum into the third period and took the lead for good when Cherniwchan lofted the puck up in the air and set Besse free on a breakaway. Although Besse did not score on his chance, he found the rebound after a save by goaltender C.J. Motte and quickly fed it back in front to Jonathan Charbonneau for a strike to put SC in front, 4-3 at 2:46 of the final frame.Just 2:18 later, Besse found himself on another breakaway into the Americans’ zone. This time he cashed in, beating Motte with a low shot past the left pad. Besse’s second goal of the game was also his seventh of the season and made it 5-3 in favor of the Stingrays.Eric Roy cut the Rays’ lead back to one goal at 15:50 of the third, but South Carolina didn’t allow anything further and held on for their fifth win of the season, 5-4.Adam Morrison picked up the victory for the Stingrays, making 20 saves in the contest. Motte suffered the loss for Allen after stopping 25 shots. Both teams came up empty on the power play with the Americans finishing 0-for-4 and SC ending at 0-for-3.South Carolina had the edge in shots on goal, posting 30 to Allen’s 24.The Stingrays and Americans lace up their skates again on Saturday night at 8:05 p.m. EST. South Carolina will return home to the North Charleston Coliseum on Saturday, Nov. 10 for Health and Wellness Night presented by Planet Fitness against the Orlando Solar Bears at 7:05 p.m.Season tickets are on sale now! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-2248 or visit 3300 W. Montague Ave. Suite A-200 during business hours.