Sports
Greenville Holds On In Third, Defeats Rays 3-1
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (25-15-9-3) scored twice in the second to take the lead and grabbed an insurance goal in the third period to defeat the South Carolina Stingrays (20-18-9-3) by a score of 3-1 on Saturday during Nickelodeon Rugrats Night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Forward Cam Askew had the lone tally for South Carolina, scoring his ninth of the season in the opening period while goaltender Matt Jurusik turned aside 33 Greenville shots in a losing effort.
Askew put South Carolina in front first, rushing past the Greenville defense before slamming the puck past goaltender Jacob Ingham. Assists by Justin Florek and Macoy Erkamps got the Rays on the board 1-0 at 9:24 of the first period.
The Swamp Rabbits took over the game in the second period, outshooting the Stingrays 18-7 and scoring twice to give themselves a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. Frank Hora evened the game at 1-1 with a tally at 10:11, while Anthony Rinaldi put Greenville in front at 15:25
Despite a push back from South Carolina in the final frame where they directed 16 shots at the Greenville net, the Swamp Rabbits scored the only goal of the third when Graham Knott netted a power play tally to make it 3-1 at 15:31, giving his team a two-goal lead late.
Knott’s goal was the only power play strike of the contest, with Greenville finishing 1-for-5 on the man-advantage and SC ending at 0-for-3. The Swamp Rabbits led in shots-on-goal, 36-30, while Ingham stopped 29 chances to earn the victory.
The Stingrays will head to Greenville for their final game of the weekend Sunday afternoon against the Swamp Rabbits at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena at 3 p.m.