SWAMP RABBITS FALTER IN 3RD PERIOD AGAINST EVERBLADES

(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – John Parker-Jones tied the game in the second period in a tightly contested affair, but Jesse Lansdell started a 4-0 run for the Florida Everblades in the final frame to defeat the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 5-1 on Wednesday night. The loss officially eliminates the Swamp Rabbits from Kelly Cup Playoff contention with 10 games remaining in the season.

Both teams skated to a scoreless frame to open up, with a rare low shooting affair of nine combined shots. Florida had five of them, all negated by Pierce Charleson, while the Swamp Rabbits threw four at Cam Johnson of which he stopped.

There was call and response in the middle frame, with both teams leaving 40 minutes level at 1-1. Carson Gicewicz started the scoring entries off with 6:59 to go in the second after the puck was misfired on a pass during a Swamp Rabbits zone entry. It kicked out into neutral ice where Gicewicz picked it up, broke down the right side, and flipped the puck over Charleson’s glove to give the Everblades a 1-0 lead. Moments later, however, the Swamp Rabbits punched back with their red-hot power play, hitting paydirt for a fourth straight game. Under three minutes later with 4:02 to go, John Parker-Jones fired a sharp angle try from the side of the net that went wide of the goal mouth. It pinballed off of Connor Doherty in the crease and past Johnson, squaring the game at 1-1 (Carter Savoie and Tate Singleton assisted). 

The game stayed deadlocked until 7:45 of the third when Florida began a 4-0 run to cruise to the win. With 12:15 left, Jesse Lansdell started the run with a net-front tap-in, slipping a Santino Centorame pass behind Charleson to break the deadlock at 2-1 (Centorame and Colin Theisen assisted). Just 59 seconds later, another misfired pass came right to Gicewicz in the slot area, who walked in uncontested toward Charleson and buried his close range try for his second unassisted strike of the night, expanding the gap to 3-1 with 11:16 to play. Dillon Hamaliuk continued the run with 8:20 to go, sending a Centorame pass from behind the net past Charleson on his short side to balloon the lead to 4-1 (Centroame and Sean Allen assisted). The final tally belonged to Alex Kile, who, while falling, rifled off a one-timer from Lansdell’s pass on the left side of the slot to bring the game to its final score of 5-1 with 5:38 remaining in regulation.

Pierce Charleson, making his second pro start in the last three games, stopped 18 of 23 shots in the loss (0-1-1-0).

The Swamp Rabbits play their final road game head-to-head against their in-state rivals, the South Carolina Stingrays, on Friday, March 21^st, before briefly coming back home to close out the week’s slate of games. Puck drop at North Charleston Coliseum is slated for 7:05 p.m. EST.

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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.