NORTH CHARLESTON, SC—The South Carolina Stingrays earned an important 3-2 victory against the Trois-Rivières Lions on Sunday afternoon. Mitchell Gibson made 25 saves on 27 shots, and the Stingrays recorded 32 shots on goal in the victory. The Stingrays honored their former captain, Andrew Cherniwchan, by retiring his #28 before the game.
The game’s first goal was scored by Jacob Hudson 6:22 into the opening period. The tally was Hudson’s sixth goal in seven professional games and was the only goal scored in the game’s first period. Hudson tapped the puck home after receiving a perfectly executed pass in the slot from Connor Moore. Austin Magera earned a secondary assist on the goal.
Trois-Rivières tied the game 11:29 into the second period when Nicolas Guay tipped in a Brycen Martin shot for his ninth goal of the season.
The Lions took the lead seven minutes later when Jakov Novak buried his team-leading 26th goal of the season with a one-timer. The Stingrays entered the third period trailing 2-1.
9:45 into the final frame. Jack Adams buried the equalizer. Benton Maass fired a shot from the left point that Adams tipped in to tie the game at two.
Less than two minutes later, Marko Reifenberger put the Stingrays back in front with his second goal of the season. Reifenberger skated the puck to the top of the right circle and wristed a shot through traffic that beat Trois-Rivières goaltender Zachary Émond.
Trois-Rivières earned a power play in the last six minutes of the game, but the Stingrays killed it off and secured the win, improving to 36-24-4-1 on the year.