VERSUS 
GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors took down the division-leading South Carolina Stingrays 5-2 on Thursday night at the BI-LO Center. The win improved Greenville to 5-5-0 on the season.
Click here for tonight’s box score.
The Road Warriors did not register its first shot on goal until the first period was more than half over, but when the shot came it was one that counted. With Greenville on the power play, Marc-Olivier Vallerand blasted a slap shot past South Carolina goalie Darren Machesney at 10:51. Justin Bowers and Jeff Prough picked up the assists. Nic Riopel stymied South Carolina early on as the Stingrays built a 7-0 shot advantage before Vallerand’s shot that gave Greenville the lead.
Within the first five minutes of the second period, the Road Warriors built their lead up to 3-0 thanks to another power play goal by Vallerand and Brendan Connolly’s third goal of the season. Vallerand’s came 1:05 into the second on a low wrist shot that beat Machesney to the blocker side. Connolly finished off a 3-on-2 rush just after the Road Warriors had killed off a penalty for too many men on the ice. Just Bowers assisted on both goals and Sean Berkstresser picked up his first assist of the season by chipping in on Connolly’s goal. South Carolina answered back with goals by Nick Tabisz and David de Kastrozza 2:32 apart, but Greenville took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
The Road Warriors did not allow South Carolina to get any close than one goal as they tacked on a pair in the third period to cruise to a three-goal victory. Hard work on the forecheck by Jason Wilson created a loose puck at the side of the net that was scooped up by Connolly and rifled past Machesney 3:15 into the period. At 15:49, Cullen Eddy added a power play goal, Greenville’s third of the night, to close out the scoring. Bowers tied his own team record for points in a game with four assists as the fourth came on Eddy’s tally.
Riopel won his fifth game of the season with 28 saves. Greenville went 3-for-6 on the power play and 6-for-7 on the penalty kill.
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors return home to battle South Carolina at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, November 12 at the BI-LO Center. The Road Warriors will host Military Appreciation Night and any active military member or military veteran can get a $6 ticket by showing their ID at the Breakaway Honda Box Office at the BI-LO Center. Group tickets are available for groups of 10 or more and feature discounts off the box office price and preferred seating based on availability. Call 864-674-PUCK (7825) to book your group outing
