(NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.) — Caiden Gault notched his first professional goal to cut the deficit to two with 7:53 left, but the South Carolina Stingrays, bolstered by Simon Pinard, Dean Loukus, and Mikey Adamson each netting a goal and assist, powered by the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 5-3 on Saturday night. The loss, coupled with a Savannah Ghost Pirates win drops the Swamp Rabbits elimination number to six with seven games remaining, and comes in the anchor game of five-games-in-seven-days to end a stretch of three-games-in-three-days-in-three-cities.

A tone was set right off the hop with three fights taking place in the first 96 seconds of the game. John Parker-Jones tussled with Justin Nachbaur 0:07 in, and was followed four seconds later by Ryan O’Reilly and Ryan Hofer before Keaton Mastrodonato and Dean Loukus danced at 1:36. Once the scraps were done, Ben Poisson got the Swamp Rabbits on the board to start the scoring entries. At 5:46, Josh Zary collected the puck in the corner and hit Poisson with a pass followed by a finish past the outstretched leg of Stingrays goalie Ty Taylor, giving the Swamp Rabbits a 1-0 lead (Zary and Tim Lovell assisted). Moments later, the Stingrays tied with 9:40 to go after Ryan Hofer intercepted a pass at the blue line and beat Swamp Rabbits goaltender Pierce Charleson uncontested. With 30.7 seconds remaining, Mikey Adamson snuck behind everyone in transition and finished an Anthony Rinaldi pass with a five-hole tuck on Charleson, scoring his first professional goal to give the Stingrays a 2-1 lead.

Over the midway point of regulation, Jack Brackett once again drew the game level. With 9:34 left in the second, Ryan O’Reilly kickstarted a transition up the ice with a pass to John Parker-Jones. From neutral ice, Parker-Jones located Brackett, who powered to the net and backhanded the puck with just enough force to bounce off of Taylor and roll in, squaring the game at 2-2. Not too long after, the Stingrays earned back the lead and wouldn’t relinquish it for the rest of the night. With 6:01 to go, Stan Cooley took the puck from behind Charleson’s net and hit Bohlsen with a pass in the net front. Bohlsen was left all alone and outlasted Charleson, finishing with a backhand to push the Stingrays ahead at 3-2 (Cooley and Ludwig Persson assisted). Under three minutes later, the Swamp Rabbits hemmed the Stingrays for around two minutes in the attacking zone, but Simon Pinard carried the puck out to a two-on-one break. Pinard elected to shoot and beat Charleson with a wrister, doubling the lead to 4-2 with 3:34 left (Lynden Breen had the lone assist). 

Prior to a Swamp Rabbits third period power play, both teams played four-on-four, and it was there that the Stingrays found more separation. With 11:32 left in the game, Dean Loukus rattled a shot off the back bar and out in close range of the net, widening the gap to 5-2 (Mikey Adamson and Simon Pinard assisted). Needing a spark late, Caiden Gault got one back for the Swamp Rabbits with a milestone moment. With 7:53 remaining, Gault was in the mix in the net-front when a rebound came to his blade off of a Cole Fraser try from distance. He slammed the puck past Taylor to close the distance to 5-3 with his first goal as a professional (Fraser and Joe Prouty assisted, the latter earning his first professional point). The Swamp Rabbits couldn’t find two more to keep the game going and fell by a 5-3 count. 

Pierce Charleson stopped 16 of 21 shots in the defeat (8-10-3-0).

The Swamp Rabbits now play their final seven games of the season all at home, beginning in the most important matchup of the season against the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Wednesday, April 8th. Puck drop for their final meeting in the regular season season is slated for 7:05 p.m. EST at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

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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.