ROAD WARRIORS END PRESEASON TAKING THE STING OUT OF THE RAYS 

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The Greenville Road Warriors wrapped up their pre-season schedule on Tuesday night at home against the South Carolina Stingrays. Over 4,000 fans went home happy thanks to a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory

Feeding off the energy of playing their first game on home ice, the Road Warriors came out strong and took the play to the Stingrays early. Brad Cole brought the crowd to its feet by dropping the gloves with South Carolina’s Matt Scherer just a few minutes into the game. At 5:26 of the first period Andrew Carroll scored the Road Warriors first home goal in their inaugural season. Off a neutral zone faceoff, Mark Voakes drew the puck back to Blake Parlett and the rookie defenseman hit Carroll with a breakaway pass. He was able to beat Stingrays goalie Jared DeMichiel with a deke to the backhand and gave the Road Warriors a 1-0 lead. No other scoring took place and the Road Warriors took the lead into the first intermission.  

South Carolina’s offense woke up in the second period and notched a couple of power play goals. Sandwiched between those goals was a Shane Harper power play goal that left the score tied at two after 40 minutes of play. South Carolina opened the second period scoring at 2:27 as Jake Hauswirth banged a rebound past Dov Grumet-Morris. Dan Eves and Rob Ricci earned assists on the play. Harper’s tally came at 13:34 in the second with Greenville up a skater. Parlett’s slap shot from the blue line missed the net and banged off the boards behind the cage right to Harper on the left wing. He snapped it past DeMichiel for his first pre-season goal and the secondary assist on the play went to Trevor Glass. Trent Campbell tied the game at two with a power play goal of his own at 19:13 in the second. He finished off a two on one with David de Kastrozza.

Neither team was able to capitalize on opportunities in the third period leaving the score tied at two. South Carolina was given a power play opportunity at 2:45 when Matt Schepke went off for tripping, but were unable to capitalize on the chance. Igor Gongalsky gave the Road Warriors some momentum when he fought South Carolina’s Dylan Yeo at 7:11 in the third period. Greenville used that momentum to outshoot South Carolina 14-6 over the final frame. De Michiel was able to stand his ground despite the barrage and forced overtime.

Greenville began the overtime frame on a power play thanks to Scherer’s holding minor at 19:33 in the third. The Road Warriors couldn’t score on the power play, but shortly after it expired Brendan Connolly stole the puck from Dustin Stevenson at the side of the South Carolina net. A quick shot by Connolly surprised De Michiel and ended up in the net for the game winner at the 3:08 mark of overtime.

Grumet-Morris posted 26 saves in earning the victory while the Road Warriors went 1-for-7 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill.

Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors play their inaugural home game on Thursday, October 21 at 7:05 p.m. against the Florida Everblades. Magnet schedules will be given away to every fan in attendance as part of that night’s festivities. Season ticket packages, group tickets, and individual tickets remain for the home opener. For more information on Road Warriors ticket options visit www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com or call 864-674-PUCK.