BY: Mark Shelley, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
GREENVILLE, SC – A pair of third-period goals from Nikita Pavlychev and Brett Kemp’s late-game winner propelled the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to victory over a 4-3 comeback Florida Everblades on Friday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
After an early Swamp Rabbit penalty, the Everblades took the lead with the opening goal from Nathan Perkovich just 61 seconds into the game. At 5:36, Greenville answered with the fifth goal of the season for Anthony Rinaldi from a tic-tac-toe play with Austin Eastman and Ayden MacDonald. Florida regained the advantage with a goal at 17:35 as Avery Peterson scored a power-play goal for the 2-1 lead.
Early in the second, a misplayed puck in the Swamp Rabbits defensive end led to a shorthanded breakaway for Joe Pendenza, who scored his 16th of the season for a 3-1 Florida lead.
In the third, the Swamp Rabbits began the climb back with Nikita Pavlychev’s eighth season as the forward walked into the crease to cut the deficit to one goal. Pavlychev scored his second of the game at 15:19 after a battle in the crease led to the puck squeaking across the goal line for a 3-3 scoreline. Finally, at 18:16, Greenville’s comeback came to fruition as Brett Kemp sniped the game-winning goal into the back of the Florida net for his eighth of the season.
With the win, the Swamp Rabbits improve to 12-15-3-3 while the Everblades fall to 21-12-3-3 on the season.
On Saturday, the Swamp Rabbits rematch with the Everblades at 7:05 p.m. inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
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
