NORTH CHARLESTON, SC. - The South Carolina Stingrays defeated the Adirondack Thunder 5-2 at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of a crowd of 5,664 fans on Saturday night. The Stingrays wore specialty jerseys for their annual First Responders Night game presented by ServiceMaster of Charleston. Kyler Kupka, Erik Middendorf, Micah Miller, Tyler Weiss, and Jamie Engelbert scored for the Stingrays, while Mitchell Gibson made 17 saves in the win.
The Stingrays got on the board less than three minutes into the game. As the Rays got an early power play, they passed it around before Kupka buried his seventh goal of the season just after the power play expired. Weiss and Connor Moore picked up the assists.
The Stingrays doubled their lead with just over four minutes remaining in the first period. Off a faceoff win from South Carolina, Blake Thompson took a shot from the blue line that Middendorf deflected into the back of the net. Thompson and Moore picked up the assists.
South Carolina took a three-goal advantage early in the second period. In the offensive zone, Weiss took a shot with bodies in front and caused chaos near the crease. In the chaos, Miller found the puck and deposited his seventh goal of the year. Weiss and Jayden Lee picked up the assists.
The Stingrays then took a four-goal advantage thanks to a power play goal in the middle frame. After an opportunity for Weiss that Thunder goalie Tyler Brennan denied, Weiss got another feed from Moore and buried it for his fourth goal of the season and third point of the night. Moore and Thompson picked up the assists.
Adirondack broke the shutout bid early in the third period. Off the rush, Josh Filmon sent a quick shot past the left shoulder of Gibson to make it 4-1.
The Thunder made it a two-goal game with a little more than eight minutes remaining. After the Thunder killed off a penalty, Jackson Van De Leest sent a shot toward the net that Gibson initially stopped, but Ryan Wheeler stuffed home the rebound to make it 4-2.
Engelbert sealed the win with an empty net goal with less than a minute to go. The goal was his team-leading eighth of the season. Charlie Combs picked up the lone assist.
The Stingrays will face the Adirondack Thunder again tomorrow at 3:05 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum.
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