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ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Road Warriors Stung By South Carolina

March 31, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release


NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - The Greenville Road Warriors suffered a 5-2 setback to the South Carolina Stingrays in their regular season finale on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. The loss left Greenville's record at 41-25-6.

For the first time in four games the Road Warriors were unable to notch the first goal of the game. Tonight it belonged to South Carolina's Nielsson Arcibal as his first professional goal gave the Stingrays a 1-0 lead 5:32 into the game. Pierre-Luc O'Brien doubled the lead three minutes and one second later by capitalizing off of a Road Warriors turnover. Greenville didn't take long to start digging out of the hole as Marc-Olivier Vallerand netted his 30th goal of the season 38 seconds after O'Brien's tally. Adam Comrie then drew Greenville even with his fourth goal of the season, off the rush, at 12:38. It was Comrie's first goal as a Road Warrior and first since October 29, 2011.

For all the offensive fireworks the teams provided in the first period, it was the goaltending and defense that took over in the second. The Road Warriors successfully killed off a pair of South Carolina power plays and received several high-quality saves from Nic Riopel to keep the game tied. Greenville had two power play chances of its own in the stanza, but Darren Machesney matched Riopel save-for-save.

With South Carolina needing to win the third period to punch its playoff ticket, the Stingrays brought heavy offensive pressure throughout the stanza. It resulted in three goals, including a late empty netter, to pave the way to the win. Daniel Koger scored the eventual winning goal at 4:53. Shea Walters provided the insurance marker at 11:26 and Michael Dorr capped the scoring with the empty net goal. The Road Warriors tested Machesney with six shots in the third, but the veteran goaltender turned away all comers and remained the only Stingrays goalie to pick up a win against Greenville this season.

Riopel suffered the loss as he stopped 25 shots. The Road Warriors were 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The Road Warriors will begin the 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Monday, April 2 by visiting the Florida Everblades for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Get ready for the Road Warriors' run to the Kelly Cup! Greenville's first home game of the opening round is Friday, April 6 at 7:35 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. Discounted playoff packages are on sale right now. With the playoff packages you can pay as you go throughout the playoffs and tickets start as low as $8.50 per game. Discounted tickets and preferred seating based on availability are also available for groups of 10 or more. Call 864-674-PUCK (7825) to get your 2012 Kelly Cup Playoffs tickets reserved today!

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