SWAMP RABBITS RALLY BUT LOSE TO STINGRAYS
SWAMP RABBITS RALLY FALLS SHORT AGAINST STINGRAYS
Mastrodonato and Isogai bring the Swamp Rabbits within one, but South Carolina hangs on
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Keaton Mastrodonato and Kenta Isogai started a third period rally, the latter scoring his first professional goal, but the Greenville Swamp Rabbits fell short of the South Carolina Stingrays by a 4-3 score on Sunday afternoon. The Swamp Rabbits went 1-2-0-0 on their season-opening “three-in-three”.
Tate Singleton put the Swamp Rabbits on the board first, but the in-state rivals left the opening frame tied. At 5:14 of the first, Hudson Schandor sneakily slipped a pass to a streaking Ryan O’Reilly, who went down the ice two-on-one with Singleton. O’Reilly found his man on the left, and Singleton rifled a shot past Antoine Keller’s blocker, giving the Swamp Rabbits a 1-0 lead (Schandor picked up his first career point with the assist). Simon Pinard leveled the playing field with 2:39 remaining in the period, slamming a pass from behind the net by an out-stretched Mattias Sholl, bringing both combatants into the dressing room knotted at 1-1.
South Carolina took off with a three-goal second period, beginning with Stan Cooley’s first professional goal. With 3:28 played in the frame, Cooley deflected a Dean Loukus shot by Sholl, pushing the Stingrays ahead 2-1. Josh Wilkins then hit paydirt back-to-back around 10 minutes apart, starting with a tap-in of a rebound from a Simon Pinard drive at 7:21 of the period to make it 3-1. He then followed up with his second when Pinard found him on the left side from behind the net, finishing with a bullet past a sprawled out Sholl to increase the lead to 4-1 with 2:22 remaining in the frame.
The Swamp Rabbits found some life towards the end of the second when Tristan De Jong fought Scott Docherty, and they rode it to two fast goals in the middle of the third to mount their comeback. With 11:31 left in the game, Keaton Mastrodonato collected a Tate Singleton pass from the boards and swam just inside the blue line. He launched the puck through a sea of humanity and under the bar over Keller’s shoulder, halving the Swamp Rabbits deficit to 4-2. Under four minutes later, Kenta Isogai picked up his first professional goal when he dove onto a rebound from a long range chance from Jacob Modry, pocketing the garbage in the net-front to put the Swamp Rabbits within striking distance at 4-3 with 8:45 left in the game. Sholl was pulled from his net for the extra attacker with less than two minutes to play, but the Swamp Rabbits couldn’t muster a tying marker, and the Stingrays left with a 4-3 win.
Mattias Sholl faced 33 shots, stopping 29 in the effort (0-2-0-0). Kenta Isogai potted his first professional goal and Hudson Schandor collected his first professional point, an assist on Tate Singleton’s first period strike.
The Swamp Rabbits are back in action on Friday, October 24th, against the Jacksonville Icemen. The game, which is “Project Search Night”, presented by Bon Secours, is slated to begin at 7:05 p.m. EST 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 have been providing family friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, 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 a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.
