NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – In a game that featured 173 penalty minutes and a goalie fight, the South Carolina Stingrays finished off a season-series sweep over the Greensboro Gargoyles with a 4-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 5,367 fans.

In their final meeting of the regular season, South Carolina (20-11-1-0) struck early. Josh Wilkins punched home a rebound 4:39 into the 1st period while on the power play to put the Stingrays ahead, 1-0. Trailing by one, Greensboro (7-15-5-1) was called for a game misconduct after Wade Murphy elbowed Kaden Bohlsen in the first of six game misconducts on the day. The Stingrays did not capitalize on the power play, but extended the lead shortly after. Patrick Guzzo tapped home his third goal of the season with 3:19 left in the frame to give the Stingrays a 2-0 lead. 

South Carolina took that lead to the 2nd period, but the Gargoyles started to chip into the deficit. Zach Faremouth scored 7:39 into the period to make it a one-goal game. Over a minute later, Greensboro forward Patrick Kyte committed a major boarding penalty on Jalen Luypen, delivering the game’s second game misconduct. With tensions high, the game reached a boiling point with just under five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the frame. 

Ryan Hofer drove the net after the whistle and the Gargoyles took exception, leading to everyone on the ice tying up. With the officials trying to break up the scrum, Stingrays goaltender, Garin Bjorklund, and Greensboro netminder, Nikita Quapp, skated to center ice and delivered a fight that sent all 5,367 fans at the North Charleston Coliseum into a frenzy. 

Bjorklund, Quapp and Hofer were given game misconducts while Greensboro went to a five-minute power play and tied the game shortly after, sending the two sides to the 3rd period tied at two. 

Across the final 20 minutes, both sides searched for a go-ahead goal. Towards the midway mark in the frame, Simon Pinard skated to the slot and flipped a backhand shot over the blocker of new Gargoyles netminder, Ruslan Khazheyev, putting the Stingrays ahead 9:12 into the 3rd. Seth Eisele, who took over for Bjorklund in the 2nd period, denied every chance Greensboro had over the final 11 minutes before Pinard scored an empty-net goal with 1:02 left in regulation to finish off the 4-2 victory for South Carolina. 

In the win for South Carolina, Pinard finished with three points, recording two goals and an assist. Seven different Stingrays registered points in the victory with Eisele taking the win saving 13 shots on 14 attempts. 

The Stingrays return to action on Saturday, January 10, as they make another trip to the Upstate to see the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m. from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. 

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South Carolina returns to the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday, January 16th, against the Savannah Ghost Pirates at 7:05 p.m. The full schedule can be viewed on our website here.

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