ECHL South Carolina Stingrays

Stingrays' Comeback Bid Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to Florida

January 29, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
South Carolina Stingrays News Release


Estero, FL - Third period goals by Cail MacLean and Travis Morin got the South Carolina Stingrays close, but they fell just short in their comeback bid against the Florida Everblades at Germain Arena, and lost 3-2.

"It just seemed that for the first 30 to 40 minutes of the game they wanted it more," said Head Coach Jared Bednar. "We finally started playing hard in the third period, but were too late to get the win."

The Rays came into Germain Arena looking for the sweep of the Florida Everblades after defeating them 3-2 in overtime on Friday night, and 3-2 in regulation on Saturday night. The first period was a very fast paced run and gun type atmosphere. Unfortunately that led to two goals in the period, and the Rays found themselves down by their largest deficit of the three game series. At 12:01 Steve Czech got just his second goal of the season to make it 1-0 Florida. They would extend their lead on Ernie Hartlieb's 14th goal of the year on the power play.

The second period continued to feature a wide open game until things got very physical. First it was Matt W. Reid. After Reid was hit hard into the boards by David Cornacchia, the two squared off in fisticuffs. During the altercation Reid lost his jersey, and subsequently was given a game misconduct. Later in the period Steve Pinizzotto got in on the action when he and Steve Ward went toe to toe, with Pinizzotto getting the better of Ward in the bout. There was more than just fighting in this period however, as there was one goal scored by Florida. They made the score 3-0 when Kirk McDonald got his 10th goal of the year with just over two minutes to go in the period.

In the third period, South Carolina began to find their stride as they avoided the shutout and got on the board with a power play goal by Cail MacLean, his 13th of the year from Marty Guerin and Travis Morin 10:04. The Rays had a chance to make it a one goal game when Pierre-Luc O'Brien had a penalty shot, but his backhander was stopped by Justin Peters at 13:30. With 1:41 left to go in the game the Rays pulled goaltender Davis Parley for the extra attacker. Skating six on five, Morin got his team leading 20th goal of the season from Steve Pinizzotto and Patrick McNeill, to cut the lead down to one. They would continue to keep Parley on the bench, and would get one more scoring chance, but couldn't get the tying goal as time expired.

Even after the game came to a close, tempers flared with Cornacchia getting a roughing call after attacking Pinizzotto. With no love lost between these two teams, and their proximity in the standings, there is no doubt that their upcoming games will be filled with emotion.

The winning goaltender was Peters who stopped 28 of the 30 shots that he faced. The losing goaltender was Parley who stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced. The Rays went one for six on the power play, while killing off two of the three short handed situations they faced.

The South Carolina Stingrays return to action on Thursday night for College night at the North Charleston Coliseum. Game time will be at 7:05 against the Augusta Lynx.

Don't miss all the fast-paced, hard-hitting action! Individual tickets can be purchased at the North Charleston Coliseum box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (843) 554-6060 and online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Discounted groups tickets, birthday packages, Kids Club information and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling (843) 744-2248 or by visiting online at www.stingrayshockey.com. Stingrays Hockey - A Whole Lot Cooler!

Check out the South Carolina Stingrays Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 29, 2008


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