NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, fell 7–1 to the South Carolina Stingrays on Sunday afternoon.
South Carolina opened the scoring 5:12 into the game when Stan Cooley forced a turnover in the defensive zone and fired a shot from the right side to make it 1–0.
The Stingrays extended their lead just 2:48 later as quick passing between Josh Wilkins and Simon Pinard set up Romain Rodzinski for a shot in the slot that made it 2–0.
South Carolina pushed the advantage to 3–0 at the 7:08 mark of the second period when Charlie Combs scored on the power play, ending the afternoon for Vinnie Purpura.
The Stingrays struck again 37 seconds later, as Cooley netted his second of the game to make it 4–0. Combs added two more goals in the period to complete his hat trick, giving South Carolina a 6–0 lead after two.
Savannah broke through with 11:37 remaining in the third period when Nicholas Zabaneh scored on the power play following a lengthy review. Dennis Cesana and Reece Vitelli recorded the assists.
South Carolina capped the scoring with a power-play goal from Cooley, completing his hat trick and sealing the 7–1 final.
Seth Eisele earned the win in net for South Carolina. Purpura stopped 11 of 14 shots before being replaced, and Noah Giesbrecht made 14 saves on 18 shots in relief for Savannah.
The Ghost Pirates return home Thursday night for Troop Thursday, presented by VyStar Credit Union, against the Greensboro Gargoyles. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey and broadcast on Mixlr. Tickets and additional information about upcoming home games are available at ghostpirateshockey.com.
— GHOST PIRATES —
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