SWAMP RABBITS FALL IN ROAD FINALE TO IN-STATE RIVALS

(NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.) – Sam Coatta tied the game in his team debut and Jack Brackett scored in his pro debut to give the Greenville Swamp Rabbits some life, but the South Carolina Stingrays took advantage of timely scoring in the second period to ultimately build to a 5-2 win on Wednesday night. With the loss, the team’s elimination number for the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs is 8 with 14 games remaining.

The Stingrays potted the only goal of the first period to carry a lead after 20 minutes. With 6:21 to go in the first, Jayden Lee fired a sharp shot parallel from the goal line that was denied by Swamp Rabbits net-minder Kolby Hay. Hay’s rebound came to the slot where Ben Hawerchuk greeted the puck, got around a stick check, and zipped the puck over Hay to put the Stingrays up 1-0.

Sam Coatta, acquired on Monday in a trade, scored in his Swamp Rabbits debut to tie the game early in the second, but was followed by a flurry of Stingrays goals. Coatta’s first in his team debut came in transition with PJ Fletcher, who dished to Coatta for a try that fluttered past Seth Eisele in net, squaring the game at 1-1 just 41 seconds into the frame (Fletcher and Parker Berge assisted). Under four minutes later, South Carolina went on a 3-0 run, beginning with Tyler Weiss. At 4:37 of the second, a scrambly sequence in the Swamp Rabbits zone ended when the puck bounced to Weiss in the slot, finishing with a rifle past Hay to re-establish the Stingrays lead to 2-1 (Romain Rodzinski and Ryan Hofer assisted). Just 2:09 later, Rodzinski took a d-to-d pass from Reilly Webb and ripped one through traffic, beating Hay’s glove to expand the advantage to 3-1 (Webb and Middendorf assisted). The final goal of the scoring run came from Ryan Hofer, who took advantaged of a turned over puck in front of the Swamp Rabbits net while shorthanded, and finished with a high-skilled maneuver that beat Hay to balloon the lead to 4-1 with 8:53 left. Following the goal, Hay was relieved of his goaltending duties by Jacob Ingham, who finished out the game in net for the Swamp Rabbits. 

Following the goalie change, Jack Brackett, making his professional debut for the Swamp Rabbits, checked his first pro goal off his list. With 7:00 left in the middle act, Brackett jetted up through neutral ice and entered from the left, firing a wrist shot that beat Eisele’s glove to cut the deficit to 4-2 (Chandler Romeo and Dustin Geregach assisted). The Swamp Rabbits continued to find opportunities to creep back closer to their rivals, but were unable to solve Eisele for the rest of the game. Jayden Lee buried a shot into the empty net with 1:11 remaining to bring the game to its 5-2 final.

Kolby Hay suffered the loss, stopping 11 of 15 shots in 31:07 of his start (1-4-1-0). Jacob Ingham took over for the rest of the game in relief and stopped all 16 shots he saw in 27:16 of work.

The Swamp Rabbits finally come back home to Bon Secours Wellness Arena to take on the Kansas City Mavericks for a “three-in-three”. Puck drop for the weekend opener on Friday, March 14^th, is slated for 7:05 p.m., and features “Girls Night Out”, presented by Waves Express Car Wash.

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About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team have been providing family friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest-level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's LA Kings and the AHL's Ontario Reign. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.