Marly Quince scored his first goal as a Stingray to break a late deadlock and Logan Thompson turned aside 45 shots to propel the South Carolina Stingrays (44-13-3-1) to a 5-4 victory over the Idaho Steelheads (36-18-3-4) on Saturday night in the finale of a three-game series at the CenturyLink Arena.
Quince was one of four South Carolina skaters to register a multi-point game, finishing with a goal an and assist. Forward Cam Askew and defender Tom Parisi each also had a goal and an assist, while Chris McCarthy picked up two helpers.
Idaho got on the board first when Diego Cuglietta found the back of the net at 10:53 to make it 1-0.
Before the end of the opening frame, however, SC evened the game at 1-1 when Jesse Lees scored for the second consecutive game. At the start of a power play opportunity, Parisi used a stretch pass to spring Lees free on a break into the Steelheads’ end and the blueliner beat goaltender Colton Point for his third goal of the year at 16:11.
Askew put the Rays in front for the first time at 8:55 of the second when he grabbed a rebound at the side of the net and spun around to unleash a shot on his forehand that beat Point for his 12th tally of the season. Assists on the play went to both McCarthy as well as forward Cole Ully.
Then Defenseman Jaynen Rissling pushed the SC lead to 3-1 at 11:12 of the middle frame by punching home a rebound in the crease for his fourth goal of the season from Askew and McCarthy.
But the Steelheads came roaring back with consecutive tallies just 1:01 apart a little more than a minute after Rissling’s strike. First, Jonathan Charbonneau scored at 12:28 and Eric Sweetman found the back of the net at 13:29 to even the score at 3-3.
Parisi got the Rays in front once again at 2:37 of the third with his 12th goal of the year off a pass from the left wall in the offensive zone by forward Scott Davidson. Quince earned the second assist on the tally, which made it 4-3 in favor of South Carolina.
The Steelheads wouldn’t go down without a fight and were able to tie the game at 4-4 on a power play goal by Colby McAuley at 13:08 of the third.
Quince’s game-winner came with just 2:56 left on the clock when he deflected a shot by Tim Harrison past Point and into the cage.
Both teams finished the game 1-for-3 on the man-advantage and Point ended with 24 saves in a losing effort for Idaho. The Steelheads had the edge in shots on goal, 49-29.
NEXT GAMESouth Carolina is down in Orlando for a matchup with the Solar Bears at the Amway Center on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
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Photo Credit: Lisa Jordan, Lisa’s Eye View