Christopoulos Earns Win In Pro Debut To Extend Streak

In his first professional start, goaltender Billy Christopoulos went the first 57 minutes of the game without allowing a goal and earned a victory as the South Carolina Stingrays (11-1-0-0) defeated the Norfolk Admirals (2-11-3-0) by a score of 5-2 for their eighth straight win on Sunday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum.

BOX SCORE

Team captain Andrew Cherniwchan scored twice in the second period, while defender Tom Parisi had a goal and two assists and forward Cole Ully added two helpers. Christopoulos finished with 34 saves in the game, earning the first star after the contest concluded.

After a scoreless period, South Carolina struck three times in the middle frame and held a 3-0 advantage after 40 minutes.

Dan DeSalvo made it 1-0 at 2:08, finishing off a beautiful passing play on the power play. Ully and Matthew Weis picked up assists on the play, which saw DeSalvo finish with a wrist shot from the inside of the right circle.

Then Cherniwchan scored consecutive goals at 7:02 and 13:54 to extend the SC lead to 3-0. His first tally of the day came on the power play with a deflection off a shot by Max Novak in which Parisi earned the second assist.

Cherniwchan scored his second on an individual effort after taking a pass from Ully while entering the offensive zone and then dekeing around a defender before putting a wrist shot up high over goaltender Brandon Halverson. Defenseman Tommy Hughes had the second helper on the play.

Parisi made it 4-0 with an unassisted goal at 11:15 of the third, and then forward Cam Askew tacked on the team’s fifth tally at 13:24 by knocking home a rebound in front of the net. Parisi and Jaynen Rissling each earned assists on Askew’s second goal of the year.

Norfolk erased Christopoulos’ shutout bid in the final minutes of the game, with goals by Ryan Salkeld at 17:45 and Josh Holmstrom at 18:47.

South Carolina went 2-for-6 on the power play while holding Norfolk to an 0-for-6 mark on the man-advantage. Halverson took the loss for the second straight day for the Admirals, finishing with 22 saves. Norfolk outshot the Stingrays in the game, 36-27.

NEXT GAMESouth Carolina hosts the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at the North Charleston Coliseum for their final home game in November on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

—Tickets for all of South Carolina’s upcoming 2019-20 home contests are on sale now via Ticketmaster. 

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