SWAMP RABBITS WIN TUG-OF-WAR IN OVERTIME AGAINST SAVANNAH

(SAVANNAH, Ga.) -  Tate Singleton rifled home his second goal of the game at 2:25 of overtime, and coupled with Bryce Brodzinski’s three points, Jacob Ingham’s 44 saves, and a 2/5 power play, led the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to a 5-4 win over the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Friday night. The win is the first of this seven-game road trip through four games, and ends a seven-game road losing streak dating back to February 7^th.

Savannah jumped out to an early 2-0, but the Swamp Rabbits beat the buzzer to carry momentum into the intermission. Pat Guay started the scoring entries off at 6:22 of the first period, catching the Swamp Rabbits in a bad change through neutral ice. He received a Reece Vitelli pass, entered the zone on the left, and fired a wrist shot past Swamp Rabbits net-minder Jacob Ingham to give the Ghost Pirates a 1-0 lead. Exactly 81 seconds later, Zach Uens buried a low-to-high pass from inside the Swamp Rabbits blue line and past a screened Ingham, quickly doubling Savannah’s lead to 2-0 at 7:43 (Devon Paliani and Nick Granowicz assisted). The Swamp Rabbits found a late answer to halve the deficit going into the break. With three seconds remaining, Bryce Brodzinski rifled a Ben Freeman pass from the slot that ricocheted off of Miles Gendron’s person and past Ghost Pirates goalie Evan Cormier, cutting Savannah’s lead to 2-1 after 20 minutes.

Brodzinski stayed hot to start the second, equalizing the game for the first time on special teams. At 7:32, Brodzinski sniped a Quinn Olson pass over the shoulder of Cormier, going off the bar and in to square the game at 2-2. Savannah responded in transition again, with Kyle Jeffers finding Brandon Saigeon streaking into the Swamp Rabbits zone. With 8:33 left in the frame, Saigeon whipped a wrist shot over Ingham’s shoulder, re-establishing the Ghost Pirates lead at 3-2. However, a misplay by Cormier allowed the Swamp Rabbits to immediately answer and tie the game again. Exactly 30 seconds later, Cormier played the puck to negate an icing call, and the Swamp Rabbits forecheck of Freeman and PJ Fletcher collected the puck. Fletcher found Austin Saint wide open in the netfront, and the latter buried a point-blank slam dunk into an open net to square the game at 3-3 with 8:03 to play.

Savannah once again gained some leverage to open the third, but again, the Swamp Rabbits refused to go away. At 3:03 of the final period, Dennis Cesana found a lane right down the middle of the Swamp Rabbits zone, took his ice, and fired the puck over Ingham’s glove shoulder, putting the Ghost Pirates back on top with a 4-3 lead (Kyle Jeffers and Kai Schwindt assisted). Once more the Swamp Rabbits found another gear fast, and evened up the score 102 seconds later. At 4:45, Bryce Brodzinski received a Tate Singleton pass up through the neutral zone, with the latter making a bee-line to the net. Brodzinski found Singleton and fired a pass to his tape, finished behind Cormier with a backdoor tap-in to level the game at 4-4 (Brodzinski and Miles Gendron assisted). Both teams couldn’t solve each other in the remainder of the third, forcing overtime for the second time head-to-head.

Logan Drevitch was found guilty of crosschecking 86 seconds into overtime, putting the Swamp Rabbits on a four-on-three power play. With 5:35 left in overtime, Singleton rifled home his second of the game top corner with John Parker-Jones providing a screen, giving the Swamp Rabbits the win and the second point, 5-4.

Jacob Ingham stopped 44 of 48 shots in the overtime win (9-8-0-1)

The Swamp Rabbits continue on their seven-game road trip with their first of two against the Orlando Solar Bears. Puck drop for the fifth game is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST at the Kia Center tomorrow, March 8^th.

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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.