GREENSBORO, N.C. – In his second start this season with the South Carolina Stingrays, netminder Garin Bjorklund stopped 40 shots on 41 attempts as South Carolina took the season series over the Greensboro Gargoyles with a 3-1 victory on Friday evening at the First Horizon Coliseum.
Early in the 1st period, South Carolina (19-11-1-0) withstood an early flurry of chances for Greensboro (7-13-5-1) with the Gargoyles testing Bjorklund, but the goaltender kept the game scoreless across the first few minutes.
The Stingrays settled in and after both sides traded chances, South Carolina broke through. Jalen Luypen punched home a rebound chance at the near post past Gargoyles netminder, Nikita Quapp, putting South Carolina ahead, 1-0, with 6:27 left in the 1st. The Stingrays added to their advantage five minutes later. Stan Cooley drove behind the net and dropped a pass to Ryan Hofer in the slot who scored his first goal of the season to give the Stingrays a 2-0 lead heading into the 2nd period.
Bjorklund saved 15 shots in the 1st period, and in the 2nd, the Gargoyles cut into the deficit. 5:19 into the middle frame, Anthony Rinaldi tipped home a centering pass getting Greensboro on the board, making it a one-goal game, 2-1.
After the goal from Rinaldi, Bjorklund took over. The Grand Prairie, Alberta native went on to stop 15 shots in the 2nd period on 16 attempts, including multiple chances on the doorstep to keep the lead intact going to the 3rd period.
In the final 20 minutes, Greensboro pressed for an equalizer, but Bjorklund again was impressive. He stopped all ten shots he saw in the 3rd period while Cooley netted an empty-net goal with 1:26 left in regulation to close out the 3-1 victory for South Carolina over Greensboro.
Bjorklund earned his second straight win with 40 saves while Cooley and Patrick Guzzo both had multi-point games.
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South Carolina returns to the North Charleston Coliseum Sunday, January 4th, against the Greensboro Gargoyles at 3:05 p.m. The full schedule can be viewed on our website here.
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