Jacksonville, FL- The Stingrays picked up a 3-2 victory over the Jacksonville Icemen on Saturday night. Garin Bjorklund made 38 saves in the victory.
The Stingrays controlled the opening frame for the second consecutive night, beating Jacksonville netminder Michael Houser just 1:07 in, off of a premium scoring chance for Austin Magera, who continued his hot play, netting his 13th of the year on a top-shelf rocket.
South Carolina would not exit the first period without burying another on a second-chance effort by Kameron Kielly with less than a minute remaining in the opening frame. A one-timer shot from defenseman Connor Moore bounced off of the pads of Houser and to the stick of Kielly, who tallied his third goal in a Stingrays uniform.
Jacksonville would skate a heavy effort in the second period. They were credited with 18 shots in the middle stanza but could not solve Bjorklund. The Stingrays would step back into their element in the closing stages of the period, at 14:11 on a blast from Michael Kim at the top of the blue line, extending the South Carolina lead to three.
Kim’s second tally of the year proved to be enough for the Rays in the third, as a rallying Jacksonville team would claw their way back at the South Carolina lead early in the final 20. Brendan Harris scored his 11th of the season on the man advantage for the Icemen at 4:17 of the third, sneaking a low shot between the legs of Bjorklund to narrow SC’s lead to 2.
An early pull of the Jacksonville goaltender would set up an extra attacker for the Icemen, and Christopher Brown pulled Jacksonville within one at 17:40. Jacksonville once again sent their netminder to the bench, but the last-minute effort would come up short because of a strong South Carolina defensive stand in the final two minutes of play.
South Carolina returns to Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena on December 22 to take on the Icemen at 7:00 pm before returning to North Charleston just before the Christmas break to take on the Florida Everblades on December 23 at 6:05 pm.
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