24 saves from Eisele in his pro debut silence Swamp Rabbits in weekend finish
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.) – Micah Miller potted two goals, and Austin Magera notched a goal and a helper, but Seth Eisele stole the show with a 24-save shutout in his pro debut to lead the South Carolina Stingrays to a 5-0 win over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Saturday night. With the defeat, the Swamp Rabbits split the weekend home-and-home series with the Stingrays.
Both teams skated to a scoreless deadlock in the opening 20 minutes, with Dryden McKay staving off eight Stingrays shots and Seth Eisele seven from the Swamp Rabbits. Eventually, Connor Moore broke the deadlock from inside the attacking blue line, firing his attempt off the crossbar and over McKay in the Swamp Rabbits’ net to give the Stingrays a 1-0 lead at 6:33 of the second period (the goal was unassisted).
The Swamp Rabbits started the third with energy, but the Stingrays quickly negated it with two goals 3:08 apart. Austin Magera tabbed the first one at 3:52 of the third when Jeremy Davidson forced a turnover behind McKay’s net. McKay found Magera, who potted his shot off of McKay’s paraphernalia and in to double the South Carolina advantage to 2-0 (Davidson had the lone assist). Moments later, Micah Miller rifled a shot from the left side of the Greenville zone while on the Stingrays’ final power play of the game, beating McKay through traffic to triple the gap to 3-0 at 7:00 of the third (Magera and Jayden Lee assisted). The Swamp Rabbits threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Stingrays, pulling McKay for the extra skater in the final four minutes of the contest. Eventually, South Carolina broke off for two empty net goals: one from Charlie Combs with 2:07 remaining (Justin Nachbaur assist) and the other from Micah Miller while shorthanded (Grant Cruikshank and Blake Thompson with the assists) with 53 seconds remaining to balloon the lead to 5-0. Eisele shut the door the entire way out onto the split for the Stingrays and his first pro shutout in his debut.
In his third straight start, Dryden McKay stopped 22 of 25 shots, suffering the loss (1-1-1-0).
The Swamp Rabbits now head home to square off against the Savannah Ghost Pirates for their season’s first meeting. Puck drop for Friday, November 1st, is slated for 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 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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