NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – The South Carolina Stingrays (4-1-0-0) used a two-goal first period to take a lead and never looked back as they downed the Atlanta Gladiators (4-3-0-0) by a final score of 4-2 on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Anthony Del Gaizo broke through just over the halfway point of the first period, netting his first career goal. Connor Moore raced down the right seam and fired a pass toward the net where Del Gaizo redirected the puck past Atlanta’s David Tendeck for the 1-0 lead.
Nearly seven minutes later, Matt Anderson added his name to the scoresheet with his third marker of the year. Tarek Baker sent a cross-ice pass to Anderson who raced to the end line, cut back to the front of the net, and shoveled the puck past Tendeck for the two-goal advantage.
The Gladiators retaliated three minutes into the second frame as Kaid Oliver tallied his second goal of the season. Dylan Carabia intercepted a clearing attempt and fired a shot off the post where Oliver was there to clean up the play and cut the deficit in half.
Del Gaizo regained the two-goal lead for South Carolina late in the middle stanza, netting his second goal of the evening. Jonny Evans raced into the slot and dropped the puck for Del Gaizo who flipped it over the glove of Tendeck for the third Stingrays goal of the night.
The Stingrays expanded their lead to three goals following Alex Fortin’s first marker of the year at the 4:16 mark of the final frame. John Wilkins fed Fortin a pass in the neutral zone where the forward sped to the right circle and snapped a shot over the glove of Tendeck for the 4-1 lead.
Atlanta fired back three and a half minutes after on Sanghoon Shin’s first of the year. The Stingrays defense poked the puck away from an odd-man rush, but Shin trailed the play, found the puck, and scored the second Gladiator goal of the night.
Clay Stevenson shined in his pro hockey debut between the pipes, stopping 38 of 40 shots he faced in the contest for his first career win.
The Stingrays finish off the weekend tomorrow, Sunday, November 6th at the North Charleston Coliseum when the Orlando Solar Bears come to town for the first time this season. Bring your furry little friend to the game for the first Pucks & Paws game of the season presented by Pet Supplies Plus and The Law Office of Peter David Brown.
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