NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – A two-goal opening period was too much for the South Carolina Stingrays (16-23-4-0) to overcome as they fell to the Norfolk Admirals (16-23-2-2) by a final score of 5-2 on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Despite the Stingrays outshooting Norfolk 14-6 in the opening stanza, it was the Admirals who broke through first on a hard one-timer from former Stingray Kyle Rhodes. The defenseman joined the play late coming off the bench and received a perfect feed from Steven Leonard where Rhodes wound up and unloaded a slap shot over the blocker of Logan Flodell.
Cody Milan doubled the lead with his ninth tally of the year with just under two minutes remaining in the first period of play. Following a save from Flodell, Milan shed his defender and took two whacks at the rebound before it knuckled past the end line for the 2-0 lead.
The Admirals opened the third period with another goal, forcing a takeaway and slamming home a rebound from Chase Harwell. Colton Heffley intercepted the puck in the slot and banged a shot off the glass before Harwell tucked his second goal of the season.
The Stingrays picked up their first goal of the game shortly after Harwell’s tally as Ryan Dmowski squared up with Dylan Wells and fired a wrist shot for a high goal on the far side. Dmowski’s goal was his sixth in the last seven games since returning to Charleston.
Norfolk regained a three-goal advantage, using an odd-man rush to take a 4-1 lead less than a minute later. Steven Leonard was rewarded with his first professional ECHL goal on a backdoor pass from Milan.
For the second straight night, Derek Gentile connected with Andrew Cherniwchan for the Stingrays second goal of the game. With the goaltender pulled, the extra attacker was put to use as Cherniwchan netted his team-leading 16th tuck of the year.
With time winding down in regulation, former Stingray Anthony Collins iced the contest, scoring from the blue line on an empty net.
The Stingrays complete a three-game homestand this Tuesday, February 15th, against the rival Greenville Swamp Rabbits at 7:05 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Single game tickets for all your Stingrays home games for the upcoming 2021-22 home season are on sale now via Ticketmaster.
Save money with group tickets! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-2248.
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