VERSUS 
Greenville, SC – In their first home game after returning from a seven-game road trip, the Greenville Road Warriors could not summon enough offense to overcome the South Carolina Stingrays on Wednesday night. South Carolina‘s 2-1 win dropped Greenville’s record to 29-17-2 on the season.
The Road Warriors came out in the first period with a lot of energy on the defensive end looking to extend their winning streak to three games. As both defenses battled throughout the first, South Carolina received the first break of the game after Sam Klassen was called for holding at 15:15. The Stingrays were unable to take advantage of this power play opportunity by putting only two shots on net, both stoned by Road Warriors goalie Nic Riopel. Riopel was called on once again at the end of the first as Jimmy Kilpatrick received two minutes for hooking with just over 30 seconds remaining in the first. Greenville was outshot 10-8, but went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
South Carolina opened the second period on the power play, but the Road Warriors defense stepped up again shutting down the Stingrays power play unit for the third time. Greenville’s seventh-ranked penalty kill unit was called on once as the Road Warriors found themselves on a two-man disadvantage after back-to-back penalties by Klassen and Connor Shields. Greenville’s defense tightened up again, killing both penalties while only allowing one shot on goal. As the shots on goal for South Carolina began to add up during the second, the Road Warriors defense was unable to hold up. Jake Hauswirth took a feed of a face-off by Matt Scherer and beat Riopel for his eighth goal of the season with 10:45 remaining in the second. Greenville received a late power play opportunity at the end of the period, but managed only one shot on goal. Greenville was outshot 13-3 and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Greenville opened up the second period on the power play, but was unable to take advantage of the extra man. The Road Warriors first shot on goal in the third was on point as Marc Olivier-Vallerand beat South Carolina’s goalie Shane Owen to knot the score at one. Assists on the play went to Jacob Lagace and T.J. Reynolds. The tie was short-lived however as South Carolina pushed ahead less than 20 seconds later on Tommy Goebel’s 11th goal of the season. Both teams received power play chances later in the third, but were unable to capitalize as the defenses settled in. Greenville sent an extra attacker on the ice after pulling the goalie but was unable to score to send the game into overtime. Greenville outshot South Carolina 14-7 in the frame.
Riopel turned aside 28 Stingray shots in the game while the Road Warriors were 0-for-3 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors return home to battle the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday, February 18 at 7:05 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. The Road Warriors are teaming with Rotary Club of Greenville to host their first “Stop Polio Cold” game. The night features the Road Warriors wearing special red and gold jerseys which will be auctioned off live following the game. Proceeds from the jersey auction and that night’s ticket sales will be donated to Rotary’s “End Polio Now” campaign. You can also take advantage of the Friday Family Four Pack which features four tickets, four hot dogs, four pretzels, four bags of chips, and four sodas for just $48! Also, for information on group packages call 864-674-PUCK to speak to a Road Warriors group sales representative.
