BY: Mark Shelley, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Anthony Rinaldi’s hat-trick led the way for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits’ offense as it outlasted the Rapid City Rush’s late-game come back for a 7-6 victory on Sunday afternoon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
GAME SHEET: https://bit.ly/37ztWzk
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1st | 2nd | 3rd |
Final |
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GVL |
2 | 4 | 1 |
7 |
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RC |
0 | 1 | 5 |
6 |
RABBITS SCORE FIRST
Greenville scored the opening goal in the first period for the third game in a row against the Rush, as Anthony Rinaldi pickpocketed a Rapid City defender and turned the puck into the corner of the goal for his 13th the season at 15:08. Just under 2:30 later, Rinaldi jumped onto the ice and took a cross-ice pass from Kevin McKernan that he buried into the back of the net at 17:29.
In the second period, Rinaldi completed the hat-trick at 1:34, paddling a power-play goal to extend the Swamp Rabbits’ advantage. Less than a minute later, Alex Ierullo threw the puck to the goal, and Ayden MacDonald tipped it into the back of the net for his 16th of the season and the 4-0 lead. Rapid City broke up the shutout as Brett Gravelle fired his 27th of the season into the net at the 7:32 mark. Greenville regained momentum as Justin Nachbaur skipped the puck into the slot and found a diving Max Zimmer, who tipped in his 18th of the season at 8:58. At 14:42, Dallas Gerads cut to the goal line and lifted his ninth of the season into the net to give the Swamp Rabbits the 6-1 lead before the intermission.
RUSH COMEBACK
Rapid City began its climb back just 54 seconds into the third period as Avery Peterson slotted his eighth of the season. At 9:48, MacDonald netted his second of the game on the power-play to give the Swamp Rabbits the 7-2 lead. The Rush regained momentum at 12:47 as Alec Butcher scored for a 7-3 scoreline before the margin would be cut down to three goals, as Max Coatta scored at 15:18. At 16:49, Rapid City scored from Butcher to cut the deficit to two goals again. Moments later, Calder Brooks made it a one-goal game with his 16th of the season at 17:37. However, the Rush failed to tie the game despite a six-on-five scenario, as the Swamp Rabbits held on for the 7-6 victory.
With the win, the Swamp Rabbits improve to 32-27-5-4, while the Rush falls to 34-24-6-5. Greenville holds sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot with four games remaining in the regular season.
On Wednesday night, the Swamp Rabbits travel to Jacksonville, FL, to take on the Jacksonville Icemen at 7:00 p.m.
Swamp Rabbits Single Game Tickets are on sale now! For more information or to secure your seats today, call 864-674-PUCK (7825) or email INFO@SwampRabbits.com
