NORTH CHARLESTON, SC. - The South Carolina Stingrays defeated the Orlando Solar Bears 5-2 on Saturday night in front of 7,555 fans at the North Charleston Coliseum for Military Appreciation Night. Zac Funk (2), Connor Moore, Josh Wilkins, and Austin Magera scored for the Stingrays, while goaltender Seth Eisele stopped 22 of 24 shots.
The Stingrays got the game's first goal just over a minute in. After Jayden Lee won a neutral zone puck battle, Funk and Alexander Suzdalev completed a pretty give-and-go in the offensive zone before Funk tucked the puck past Solar Bears goaltender Alexis Gravel to give the Stingrays a 1-0 lead.
Despite taking two penalties, the Stingrays held Orlando to just two shots in the opening frame.
The Solar Bears tied the game early in the second. Off the faceoff, Aaron Luchuk sent a puck toward the net that Eisele initially stopped, but Anthony Bardaro knocked in the rebound to tie the game at one.
Just 39 seconds later, the Stingrays regained the lead. In a four-on-two across the blue line, Suzdalev found Funk for a golden opportunity that was denied. Moore knocked the clearing attempt from Orlando out of the air and snapped a shot to the back of the net to make it 2-1. Suzdalev and Funk assisted on Moore's sixth goal of the season.
South Carolina would strike again less than three minutes later. Kyler Kupka slowed down an outlet pass and found a charging Erik Middendorf heading into the offensive zone. Middendorf got around Orlando's defender and sent a pass to Wilkins, who finished off a one-timer. Kupka and Middendorf got the assists on Wilkins' 11th goal of the year.
The Stingrays extended their lead to three goals less than two minutes after that. At four-on-four, Suzdalev blocked Orlando's attempt to break out before sending it to Magera, who wired a shot over the shoulder of Gravel to make it 4-1.
The Stingrays put up their fourth goal in less than six minutes to make it a 5-1 game. On the power play following their four-on-four, these stingrays quickly found the back of the net again as Funk buried a feed from Wilkins. Wilkins and Moore assisted on Funk's second goal of the game, a goal that ended Gravel's night.
Orlando struck halfway through the third period. Jaydon Dureau stole a backward pass from Magera and used speed to get a two-on-one the other way. Dureau found Spencer Kersten, who beat Eisele to make it 5-2.
The Stingrays take on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Sunday afternoon at 3:05 PM at the North Charleston Coliseum for the team's Kids Takeover Game.
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