NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The South Carolina Stingrays’ season opening win streak came to an end as they fell to the Atlanta Gladiators, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 4,657 fans.

Atlanta scored four goals in the final period, with Ben Strinden and Mike McNamee recording four points. The Stingrays were held scoreless on all three of their power play opportunities, marking their first game without a power-play goal this season.

“The start's been great and I think we've done a lot of things well but you're always judged on your last performance,” Head Coach Jesse Kallechy said. “This one is certainly one that we're going to want back, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't take anything from it.”

It took less than a minute for the teams to break the ice, as Strinden scored on the game’s first shot to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Stingrays kept the offensive intensity high with 18 shots on the net in the opening frame, but they still entered the second period trailing 1-0.

With 14:25 remaining in the second, Cam Morrison received a cross-ice feed and sniped the puck into the top right corner, tying the game at one and unleashing the Undie Sunday rain.

When the clothes were cleared from the ice, the Stingrays immediately got back to work. Less than a minute later, Kyle Jackson broke loose on a breakaway and beat Atlanta’s TJ Semptimphelter to give South Carolina its first lead, 2-1.

The Gladiators had a power play opportunity in the last two minutes of the period, but the South Carolina penalty kill unit kept them off the scoreboard as the Stingrays took their lead into the final period.

Three minutes into the third, Josh Prokop ripped a shot from the point that rang the  left post but stayed out of the net. On the following face off, the Gladiators went down the ice on an odd-man rush and cashed in, tying the game at two.

With 8:10 remaining, Bjorklund made a pad save after a shot off the face off, with the rebound falling onto the stick of Atlanta’s Mike McNamee, who buried the second chance, giving the Gladiators their second lead of the day, 3-2.

Just over a minute later, the Atlanta lead doubled after Brandon Trook scored on a breakaway.

“I think we carried the momentum there in the second and then came out kind of flat in the third, which can't happen,” Morrison said. “I think we're too good for that to happen.”

With the South Carolina net empty with two minutes remaining, McNamee netted his second goal of the game sealing the 5-2 win for the Gladiators.

“There's lots of things that we have to improve on,” Kallechy said, “There's no doubt that this tape will give us some good starting points and things we'll need to attack this week and we'll get after that starting tomorrow.”

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The Stingrays return to the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday, November 6, for Jets and Vets Night, presented by Charleston Southern University, as they host the Orlando Solar Bears at 7:05 p.m. The full schedule can be viewed on our website here.

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