JACKSONVILLE, F.L. – After allowing an early goal on the road, the South Carolina Stingrays scored four unanswered goals from four different goal scorers to skate by the Jacksonville Icemen, 4-1, on Wednesday evening at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Jacksonville (9-9-0-0) jumped out in front quickly at home. Christopher Brown converted on the first shot of the game just 3:11 in, giving the Icemen a 1-0 lead. Following the opening goal, South Carolina (12-7-0-0) responded. With just under six minutes gone, Reilly Webb let a shot go that deflected off an Icemen’s skate and found the back of the net, tying the game at one.
Neither side could break the tie in the 1st period, but in the 2nd period, the Stingrays took over. Just over five minutes into the middle frame, Jalen Luypen tapped home a centering pass from Simon Pinard, putting the Stingrays ahead for good, 2-1. South Carolina found an insurance goal from Josh Wilkins with 9:05 left in the period off an assist from Kyler Kupka building the lead to two, 3-1.
The Stingrays took the two-goal lead to the 3rd period, but Jacksonville came out firing looking for an answer early. Netminder Mitch Gibson was up for the task. The backstop made multiple saves across the first minute, keeping the 3-1 lead intact.
South Carolina drew a penalty just over eight minutes into the 3rd period and made the Icemen pay. Zac Funk punched home his first goal of the season on the power play, giving the Stingrays a 4-1 lead with 10:38 left in regulation. Jacksonville had no answer for South Carolina down the stretch as Gibson saved the final 21 shots he saw on the evening to beat the Icemen, 4-1.
In the victory, Funk, Kupka and Wilkins all had multi-point outings while Gibson earned his seventh win of the season, including his second over Jacksonville.
The Stingrays return to action on Friday night against the Savannah Ghost Pirates. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. from the Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia.
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