Stingrays Silence Americans, Compete Weekend Sweep

The South Carolina Stingrays (6-4-0-0) scored two goals in the first period and added two more in the third to defeat the Allen Americans (3-6-0-1) 4-1 Saturday night and finish off a sweep of the teams’ weekend series at the Allen Event Center.Forward Jonathan Charbonneau led the way for the Rays with a goal and two assists, while his linemates Andrew Cherniwchan and Grant Besse each extended their point streaks to seven and four games respectively, both scoring goals in South Carolina’s victory.Besse, who had a goal and an assist, has had multi-point nights in all of his last four contests and is tied for the ECHL lead in scoring with 17 total points on eight goals and nine assists in the team’s first 10 games.The Plymouth, Minn. native opened the scoring and made it 1-0 SC with his eighth goal of the season from Jonathan Charbonneau at 7:05 of the first period.The Stingrays then extended their lead to 2-0 when Tim Harrison took advantage of an abnormal bounce off the boards and found the back of the net for the second time this season with assists from Patrick Gaul and Mike Chen at 8:37.Allen got back within one on a power play goal by Zach Pochiro at 13:43 of the middle period. The tally ended up as the lone strike of the second and the two teams headed to the third period with just one goal separating them.In that final frame, however, the Stingrays were able to put more distance between themselves and the Americans while playing sound defensive hockey to earn their second victory in as many nights.Cherniwchan first made 3-1 Rays with his sixth tally of the season at 3:22 of the third. Charbonneau created the play by bringing the puck into the offensive zone down the right wing and holding on long enough for Cherniwchan to find a soft spot in the Allen coverage before hitting the Hinton, Alta. native with a quick pass for the strike. Besse was credited with the second assist on the scoring play.Then Charbonneau sent the Allen fans to the exits with his third goal of the season and second in as many nights at 13:21 off a pass from Cherniwchan and a second assist by forward Jake Kamrass.Stingrays’ goaltender Adam Morrison earned the win for the second straight night, stopping 24 shots in the victory. Allen netminder Jeremy Brodeur suffered the loss despite making 35 saves. South Carolina outshot the Americans 39-25 in the game, while Allen had the only man-advantage goal of the game, going 1-for-6 on the power play. The Stingrays were held off the board on the power play, finishing 0-for-3.The Stingrays play their next game in Jacksonville during the Icemen’s School Day on Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. 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.