SWAMP RABBITS BATTLE BACK TO BEAT GHOST PIRATES
SWAMP RABBITS BATTLE BACK TO BEAT GHOST PIRATES IN WEEKEND FINALE
Murray nets three assists, leads power play to 2/4 finish to bounce back for 4 pts in last 6 on weekend
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
SAVANNAH, GA – Jake Murray earned three assists, two on the power play with one on Brendan Gorman’s game-winning strike with 4:55 to play in the game, and in tandem with Mattias Sholl’s 43 saves, helped the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Sunday afternoon. The win gives the Swamp Rabbits a 5-1-2-0 start through eight games.
The Ghost Pirates struck late in the first period to carry an advantage in the dressing room. With 95 seconds to play, Kasper Lundell fired a “Hail Mary” to Liam McLinskey, who beat Swamp Rabbits netminder Mattias Sholl on a break to put the Ghost Pirates up 1-0.
Emil Pieniniemi doubled the lead before the Swamp Rabbits started their scoring run in a wild second period. Just 101 seconds in, Pieniniemi rifled a shot from inside the blue line through traffic that whizzed over Sholl’s shoulder, pushing the Ghost Pirates to a 2-0 lead. Then the Swamp Rabbits mounted their counter. At 3:54 on their second power play of the game, Jake Murray, logging the first of his three assists in the game, found Blake Bennett on the right side of the zone. Bennett wired a no-doubter past Christian Cicigoi in net for Savannah to cut the deficit to 2-1 (Murray and Neil Shea assisted). Shea continued the charge in the final three minutes of the second to tie the game. With 2:56 to go, Nico Somerville led a breakout pass to Mike O’Leary, who in turn spearheaded a three-on-one. O’Leary, in his 300th professional game, deferred to Shea on the left, who tapped the puck behind Cicigoi to square the game at 2-2. Exactly 1:20 later, Jake Percival got behind his defender in transition and lasered a wrist shot past Cicigoi’s blocker, giving the Swamp Rabbits their first lead at 3-2 with 96 seconds left in the middle act (Jack Brackett and Jake Murray assisted).
The Ghost Pirates battled back around the midway point of the third before the Swamp Rabbits power play got the last word. At 8:43, Tristan Amonte tapped home a Liam McLinskey pass as the power play expired, slipping the puck past Sholl to tie the game at 3-3. Brendan Gorman, playing against his older brother Liam, found the game-winner in the final stages for the Swamp Rabbits. With 4:55 to go, Murray found Gorman on the left faceoff circle, setting up a rocket of a one-timer for the difference maker, winning the game for the Swamp Rabbits at 4-3.
Mattias Sholl stopped 43 of 46 shots in the effort to remain undefeated in regulation through four starts, three of which have come on the road (3-0-1-0). Jake Murray’s three-assist night matches a feat he similarly accomplished last season, coincidentally in Enmarket Arena against Savannah on October 18th in a 5-4 shootout win.
The Swamp Rabbits rematch the Ghost Pirates to start this upcoming weekend’s pair of games. Puck drop at Enmarket Arena is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST on Friday, November 6th.
About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team has 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, the premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.
