Stingrays Weekly Report - November 19

Two wins in three games last week have the South Carolina Stingrays back over .500 as they begin a holiday road trip to three cities in four days. The Rays have continued their success on the power play while at home this season, converting on 24.1% of their man-advantage opportunities at the North Charleston Coliseum. South Carolina has secured a total of 16 points in the South Division standings, which has them tied for fourth place.

The Stingrays are once again hitting the road this week starting Tuesday night with a matchup in Jacksonville against the Icemen. SC then continues on to face Orlando at the Amway Center on Wednesday night before finishing up the week in Atlanta to battle the Gladiators at the Infinite Energy Center for the first time this season on Friday night.

STINGRAYS RECORD: 8-7-0-0LAST WEEK: 2-1-0-0TUESDAY: SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS 4, ATLANTA GLADIATORS 2(North Charleston Coliseum – North Charleston, SC)The South Carolina Stingrays scored three times in the first period to get out to an early lead and held the Atlanta Gladiators quiet late in the game to earn a 4-2 win on Tuesday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. Four different forwards found the back of the net for South Carolina in the victory, with Sam Fioretti, Shane Eiserman, Patrick Gaul and Grant Besse each getting on the board, while goaltender Adam Morrison turned aside 14 shots to earn a win in between the pipes.

FRIDAY: SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS 1, FLORIDA EVERBLADES 0(North Charleston Coliseum – North Charleston, SC)After being forced into action in the middle of the second period, South Carolina Stingrays goaltender Gordon Defiel stopped 13 shots and preserved a 1-0 shutout win over the Florida Everblades on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. Adam Morrison started the game for South Carolina and made 16 saves in the first 29:52, while captain Joey Leach scored the only goal of the contest in the second period, his first tally of the season.

SATURDAY: WHEELING NAILERS 4, SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS 1(North Charleston Coliseum – North Charleston, SC)The Wheeling Nailers scored twice in the second period and controlled the remainder of the game to defeat the South Carolina Stingrays by a score of 4-1 on Marvel Super Hero Night Saturday at the North Charleston Coliseum. Forward Nick Roberto scored his second goal of the season for the Stingrays in the third period, while goaltender Gordon Defiel made his first ECHL start and stopped 18 shots in the loss.

THIS WEEKTuesday, November 20 – at Jacksonville Icemen, 7 p.m. (Veterans Memorial Arena)Wednesday, November 21 – at Orlando Solar Bears, 7 p.m. (Amway Center)Friday, November 23 – at Atlanta Gladiators, 7:35 p.m. (Infinite Energy Center)STINGRAYS LEADERSGoals: 10 – Grant BesseAssists: 11 – Andrew Cherniwchan, Jonathan CharbonneauPoints: 20 – Grant BessePlus/Minus: Plus-9 – Kevin McKernanPenalty Minutes: 22 – Andrew Cherniwchan, Joey LeachShots On Goal: 85 – Grant BesseWins: 4 – Adam MorrisonGoals Against Average: 2.85 – Adam MorrisonSave Percentage: 0.892 – Adam MorrisonDEFIEL DEFYING THE ODDSGoaltender Gordon Defiel was forced into action during the second period of Friday night’s game vs. Florida, making his 2018-19 ECHL debut. The netminder came up big for the Rays, stopping 13 shots to help complete a shutout of the Everblades and earn his first ECHL win in his second career game. The Stillwater, Minn. native then made his first ECHL start the following night, making 18 saves in a losing effort against Wheeling. South Carolina signed Defiel on Nov. 5 after the netminder got off to a hot start with the Macon Mayhem, going 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and a 0.952 save percentage to begin his season.

LEACH GETS THE GAME-WINNERStingrays team captain Joey Leach scored his first goal of the season in the second period Friday while on the power play. His shot was the only one to cross the goal line during the game, as SC held on to defeat Florida 1-0 in the first meeting with the Everblades during the 2018-19 season.

EISERMAN’S BIG DEBUTIn his first game with the Stingrays Tuesday, forward Shane Eiserman forced his former team to re-think their trade, scoring a goal and an assist in his first four minutes in an SC sweater. The UNH grad had an assist on Sam Fioretti’s strike at 1:16 of the first period, before finishing off a play in front for his third goal of the season and first as a Stingray to give SC an early 2-0 advantage over Atlanta just 3:54 in.Single-game tickets for all games during the 2018-19 season are on sale now at the North Charleston Coliseum Box Office and ticketmaster.com.

Groups of 10 or more feature discounted pricing and great benefits! For more information or to place an order call the Stingrays front office at 843-744-2248 or stop by 3300 W. Montague Ave. Suite A-200 during business hours.