NORFOLK, VA. - The South Carolina Stingrays secured a 6-3 victory over the Norfolk Admirals on Friday night and earned their 16th consecutive win. With the victory, the Stingrays are guaranteed to finish with the best record in the ECHL and have clinched the 2024-25 Brabham Cup championship. They will have home-ice advantage for the entire 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Neal Brothers. The Stingrays will face the Orlando Solar Bears in round one and fans can purchase tickets to any home playoff game here.
Dean Loukus (2), Jace Isley, Charlie Combs, Erik Middendorf, and Lynden Breen scored tonight for the Stingrays, while goaltender Mitchell Gibson stopped 18 of 21 shots in the win.
Middendorf got the scoring started 7:04 into the second period when he tipped in a shot from Romain Rodzinski to give the Stingrays the lead. Taking advantage of the momentum, Isley found the back of the net just 52 seconds later after beating Norfolk goaltender Kristin Stead glove side on a 2-on-1 rush.
A few minutes later, Loukus buried a rebound goal in front of the net to give South Carolina a three-goal lead. Isley and Micah Miller picked up the assists on the goal.
Three minutes later, Norfolk got on the board with a power play goal from Justin Young to make it 3-1, but Loukus answered right back 26 seconds later by finding the back of the net on a feed from Tyler Weiss to send the Rays into the locker room with a three-goal cushion.
The Admirals pulled within one thanks to two goals in the first seven minutes of the third period. Ryan Chyzowski tipped in his tenth goal of the season before Young added his second power-play goal of the night to cut it to 4-3.
After that, the Rays settled in and added some insurance thanks to a power play goal from Combs. Combs and Middendorf executed a give-and-go on a 2-on-0, ending with Combs burying his 25th goal of the season.
The Rays added another tally on an empty net goal from Breen to make it 6-3 and seal the game. The goal was Breen’s first professional goal and first as a Stingray.
South Carolina’s next game is tomorrow night in Norfolk against the Admirals again. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm at the Norfolk Scope.
The Stingrays have announced the dates for all home first-round playoff games. They will host the Orlando Solar Bears at the North Charleston Coliseum for games one and two on April 18 and 19. Fans can purchase tickets to any home playoff game here.
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