VERSUS 
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 3-1 on Tuesday night at the North Charleston Coliseum to clinch a South Division title in their first season in the ECHL. The win assured Greenville of home ice advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs, and improved the Road Warriors’ record to 41-22-4 on the season.
The Road Warriors‘ power play came into Tuesday’s game with 10 goals in the last eight contests and was given a chance just one minute into the game to give Greenville the early advantage. After some early difficulties setting it up in the Stingrays’ zone, the Road Warriors rattled off three shots in quick succession but could not squeeze on past goalie Todd Ford. South Carolina built some momentum off of the successful penalty kill and received the first score of the game from Rob Ricci at the 8:53 mark. In a one-on-one situation with Wes Cunningham, Ricci faked a pass to the right wing before sending a wrist shot past Chris Beckford-Tseu to the blocker side. The lone assist on the goal was given to Joe Finley. With three minutes remaining in the first, Chris Clackson picked up a boarding major that gave the Stingrays five minutes of power play time. They managed just one shot in the three minutes of power play time in the first, but took the remaining 1:59 into the second.
South Carolina managed one more shot on the remaining power play time to begin the second, but it wasn’t the Stingrays’ power play that did the damage in the frame. Beckford-Tseu and the Road Warriors penalty killers kept the Stingrays from building their lead any further and allowed for the Road Warriors’ power play to answer emphatically. First it was Jimmy Kilpatrick with his team-leading 11th power play goal, 17th overall, at 8:08 to knot the game at one. Justin Bowers and Andrew Rowe provided the helpers on the score. The Road Warriors had to endure a Stingrays surge after a fight between Nate Kiser and T.J. Reynolds at the 7:17 mark injected some energy into the home club. But once the tide was stemmed, Greenville’s power play came through to give the Road Warriors their first lead of the game. Shane Harper’s shot from low on the right wing created a rebound chance in front that Brandon Wong jammed home for his 20th goal of the season at 15:18. Greenville carried that lead into the second intermission.
A masterful defensive performance by the Road Warriors in the third period killed off one South Carolina power play and limited the Stingrays to just four shots in the frame. With the Stingray offense fully in check all that remained was to see if the Road Warriors could pick up any insurance on the scoreboard. It came in the form of Justin Bowers’ 15th goal of the season. An icing against the Stingrays gave the Road Warriors an offensive zone faceoff which was converted into the goal. A quick passing play between Kilpatrick and Matt Schepke set up Bowers in the slot for a backhander that squeaked through Ford’s pads at the 16:31 mark. Down by a pair, the Stingrays pulled Ford for the extra attacker with just over a minute to play, but couldn’t muster much offense against the Road Warriors. Brendan Connolly had a good look at the empty net from center, but shot one off the post and couldn’t add to the Road Warriors’ lead.
Beckford-Tseu picked up his second win as a Road Warrior with 26 saves on the night. Greenville went 2-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors return to home ice to battle the Reading Royals on Thursday, March 24 at 7:05 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. It will be another Dollar Drink Thursday with select draught beers and fountain drinks on sale for just $1! Group seating remains available for the game with discounts off of the box office price, preferred seating based on availability, and other great benefits. To book a group outing call a Road Warriors representative at 864-674-PUCK.
