(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Jake Percival tied the game with 72 seconds remaining on his first professional goal, and Simon Latkoczy made 24 saves in his first professional start, but the Bloomington Bison outlasted the Greenville Swamp Rabbits going the distance and then some, winning 3-2 in six shootout rounds on Saturday night.

A stark contrast from the first game of the series, the Swamp Rabbits came out of the opening 20 minutes with a 1-0 lead. With 4:03 gone by in the opening frame, Ryan O’Hara collected a turnover and fired a shot to the net. The puck skipped to Denis Smirnov, bouncing off his paraphernalia and past Bison goalie Dryden McKay to give the Swamp Rabbits a 1-0 lead.

The Bison stormed back in quick fashion in the second period, scoring two goals 11 seconds apart in the first 66 seconds. Nikita Sedov was first 55 seconds in, busting down the middle of a wide open lane with a high finish past Swamp Rabbits net-minder Simon Latkoczy, near-immediately squaring the game at 1-1 (Parker Lindauer and Chongmin Lee assisted). Then 11 seconds after, Lindauer went from the primary assist to scorer, crashing in on a Brenden Datema rebound to quickly push the Bison ahead, 2-1 at 1:06 (Datema and Cullen Ferguson assisted). 

It came to the final minutes for the Swamp Rabbits, but one of their newest rookies factored in to perpetuate the game past 60 minutes. With Latkoczy pulled for the extra attacker, Keaton Mastrodonato rifled a shot through traffic that was initially denied by McKay. A rebound came of the chance, leading Jake Percival to cash in for his first professional goal and square the game at 2-2 with 72 seconds left (Mastrodonato and Tim Lovell assisted). Both teams failed to win it in the final 1:12, necessitating overtime.

Seven minutes of three-on-three was also not enough to determine a winner, prompting shootouts to decide once and for all. It pushed all the way to the bottom of the sixth round, where Ilya Tsulygin netted the only goal of the shootout rounds to secure the second point in a 3-2 win for the Bison.

Just two nights after making his professional debut, Simon Latkoczy made his first professional start, suffering the loss with 24 saves on 26 shots in regulation and overtime, along with five of six shooters in the shootout (0-1-0-1).

The Swamp Rabbits play their final four games at home, concluding their three-game set with the Bloomington Bison tomorrow afternoon. Puck drop at Bon Secours Wellness Arena is slated for 3:05 p.m. EST on April 12^th, which is “Hockey For Her”, presented by Restore Hyper Wellness, celebrating women’s empowerment and women in sports.

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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.