By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Colton Young strikes twice in defeat; Swamp Rabbits enter midway point at 15-17-3-1
(NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.) – Colton Young scored twice for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, but the South Carolina Stingrays broke a 2-2 tie in the second period to eventually take a 5-2 win on Sunday afternoon. The Swamp Rabbits have concluded the first half of their season, checking in with a 15-17-3-1 record in 36 games.
Both teams traded punches in the opening frame, leaving it deadlocked. Colton Young got the Swamp Rabbits on the board first on the team’s first power play of the game, firing home a Bryce Brodzinski pass from the slot area past Stingrays goalie Garin Bjorklund for a 1-0 lead 2:57 into the contest (Brodzinski and Parker Berge assisted). Almost 10 minutes later, however, Justin Nachbaur returned fire when he potted a rebound off a Dean Loukus shot, stopped initially by Swamp Rabbits netminder Dryden McKay to square the game at 1-1 with 7:34 left in the first (Loukus and Charlie Combs assisted).
The second frame featured a back-and-forth tug of war between the rivals, but South Carolina eventually broke through for a lead heading into the third. At 6:23, Andrew Perrot started a transition for the Stingrays up the ice to Josh Wilkins, who entered the zone from the left side. Wilkins’ no-look passed to Kyler Kupka on the right, who fired home a one-timer past McKay to give the Stingrays their first lead of the game at 2-1. The Swamp Rabbits returned serve and got a second strike from Colton Young. With 5:35 left, Jake Flynn fired a shot from the right that was stopped by Bjorklund and sent back on the net by Mason Emoff. Young located Emoff’s rebound and backhanded it by Bjorklund to square the game at 2-2. Exactly 1:27 later, however, Charlie Combs carried the puck through neutral ice and wristed a shot past a defender and McKay’s blocker to put the Stingrays back on top, 3-2, giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with 4:18 left in the second (Andrew Perrott assisted).
Tyler Weiss gave South Carolina some breathing room at the start of the third, outlasting McKay one-on-one from the left side and barely tucking the puck inside the far post to double the Stingrays’ lead to 4-2 (Combs and Blake Thompson assisted). Alexander Suzdalev ended any chance of a Swamp Rabbits comeback with an empty net tally with 92 seconds remaining, bringing the game to its final of 5-2.
Dryden McKay stopped 26 of 30 shots in the defeat (9-13-3-0).
The Swamp Rabbits now await the Reading Royals for a pair of home games this weekend. Puck drop for the first of two meetings comes on Friday, January 24th, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team has provided family-friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly, the Greenville Road Warriors and the Swamp Rabbits are the highest-level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s LA Kings and the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Greenville is an ECHL Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League member.
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