ECHL South Carolina Stingrays

Stingrays Sink Everblades 5-2

Published on March 14, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
South Carolina Stingrays News Release


ESTERO, Fla. - Matt Reid registered his second hat trick of the season to lead the South Carolina Stingrays to their fifth straight win by downing the Florida Everblades 5-2 in front of 7,005 at Germain Arena.

With the victory, South Carolina jumps into sole possession of fourth place in the ECHL's South Division, two points ahead of fifth place Augusta, which had the night off.

"Reid was phenomenal," South Carolina coach Jason Fitzsimmons said. "He leads by example and stepped up with key goals to put an exclamation mark on a complete team effort. It won't be easy, but as we continue our drive to the Kelly Cup Playoffs, we hope to get the job done against Florida at home on Friday."

South Carolina (32-23-7, 71 points) struck first in the opening minute as Cail MacLean fed a great up the middle pass to Reid, who skated in on a breakaway and deposited the first shot of the game on a backhand past goaltender Jamie Holden, who was making his Everblades debut, for his team-leading 24th goal of the season at the 43 second mark.

In the second, MacLean netted his 24th goal on a 5-on-3 power play at 2:29 from Peter Szabo and Marc Busenburg to give the Stingrays a 2-0 lead.

Just 1:03 later, Reid went back to work with the man advantage and deposited his second of the game unleashing with a one-timer from the slot, making it 3-0 for South Carolina.

Florida (37-19-5, 79 points) got on the board on a turnover in the Stingrays zone. Jarret Lukin beat netminder Daren Machesney to count his fifth of the season at the 9:43 mark. Adam Taylor and Vince Bellissimo drew assists.

At the end of the second period, Reid was slammed into the boards by Lukin on a hit from behind. There was no call on the play. Nate Kiser took exception and drew a roughing penalty and Reid was assessed a two-minute unsportsmanlike minor. However, on the ensuing power play, Florida failed to score.

Then while killing another penalty, Reid made a nifty move in the Florida territory and buried his third of the night to put the game out of reach. MacLean garnered the helper.

Dustin Johner cut the margin in half by tallying an unassisted goal, which was his team-leading 26th of the campaign at the 8:30 mark.

But Brendan Bernakevitch scored into the empty-net with 1:01 remaining in regulation to complete the scoring with his 16th goal of the year.

South Carolina converted on 2-of-6 chances with the power play, while Florida went 0-for-7. Everblades outshot the Stingrays 32-20.

The Stingrays return home for their next game at 7:05 p.m. on Friday against Florida at the North Charleston Coliseum. The game promotions consist of "The largest T-shirt Toss of the Year", presented by Berkeley Electric Cooperative. In addition, it's Family Fun Friday featuring four tickets, four hotdogs, four sodas and a program for just $44.

Join Mike Kelly, "Voice of the Stingrays" for live play-by-play action on Real 1340 and online at www.stingrayshockey.com beginning at 6:50 p.m. with the Benito's Pregame Show. Watch the game live on the web telecast for $6 each at www.stingrayshockey.com, courtesy of B2 Networks.

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

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ECHL Stories from March 14, 2007


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