(NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.) – Patrick Polino fired off a career-high four-assist/five-point night in leading the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to a convincing 5-2 win over the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday night. The win extends the team’s road point streak to four straight games, 2-0-2-0 dating back to their November 26^th win at Greensboro.

Polino’s career night kicked off with a pair of assists in helping give the Swamp Rabbits a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. With 7:57 left in the first, the Swamp Rabbits forced a turnover at their own blue line and came in-zone with numbers and speed. Ryan O’Hara dished to Polino, who found a trailing Tim Rego to bury a shot past the glove of Stingrays goalie Seth Eisele, giving the Swamp Rabbits a 1-0 advantage. With 2:33 left in the period, Cam Hausinger, who had three assists himself, found Polino on the right wall, leading the veteran to navigate the zone. He deferred to Parker Berge who, from the left side inside the blue line, rifled a shot that pinballed off a defender and past Eisele to give the Swamp Rabbits a 2-0 lead heading into the dressing room. 

The Swamp Rabbits didn’t let up, and let quick strike special teams balloon their lead before South Carolina got on the board. Kyler Kupka was found guilty of hooking 66 seconds into the second, and was quickly followed by John Fusco in the penalty box, who fired the puck over the glass for a delay of game minor at 2:16 to put the Swamp Rabbits up two men for under a minute. Just six seconds into the two-man advantage, Polino fired a shot off the faceoff win that was stopped initially by Eisele. Hausinger tried to pocket the rebound and was denied, but another one came to Carter Savoie, who extended his point streak to a team-leading fifth game while putting the Swamp Rabbits up 3-0 at 2:22 of the second frame. Exactly 1:16 later and still on the man-advantage carrying over, Polino contained the zone on the near wall and fired a pass to Keaton Mastrodonato, who sent a shot towards the Stingrays net. John Parker-Jones tapped it by Eisele, expanding the Swamp Rabbits advantage to 4-0 at 3:38. Polino matched his season total of assists entering the game (4) in 23:38 of regulation.

Kyler Kupka thought he got the Stingrays on the board while shorthanded, but his goal was waived off due to a high stick. After a clean up of Teddy Bears for a premature toss due to the disallowed goal, Stan Cooley got the Stingrays on the board. With 6:18 left in the second, the Stingrays transitioned in, and Lynden Breen found Cooley down the slot, eventually beating Swamp Rabbits net-minder Pierce Charleson to cut the Swamp Rabbits lead to 4-1 (Breen and Dean Loukus assisted).

Polino capped off his career-night while the Swamp Rabbits were shorthanded in the final period. Trying to make a push, Eisele was pulled from his net, giving the Stingrays a 6-on-4 advantage. Polino airmailed it from between his own hashmarks into the empty net, hitting a career-high fifth point while pushing the Swamp Rabbits to a 5-1 lead with 5:17 left in the game (Hausinger assisted). Eventually, on the same Stingrays power play, Zac Funk picked up a rebound on a Romain Rodzinski point shot, bringing the game to its final score of 5-2 with 4:33 left (Rodzinski and Kaden Bohlsen assisted).  

Pierce Charleson, starting for the first time since November 22^nd at Atlanta, stopped 26 of 28 shots in the win (3-2-0-0). Patrick Polino finished with a shorthanded goal and four assists for five points, the latter two career-highs. The Stingrays suffered their first loss on home ice in the Swamp Rabbits win, their fourth straight road game without a regulation loss.

The Swamp finish their weekend against the in-state rival South Carolina Stingrays. Puck drop for the finale takes place tomorrow at 3:05pm EST at North Charleston Coliseum.

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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.