NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – The South Carolina Stingrays lost 5-3 to the Jacksonville Icemen at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday night. Kyle Kupka, Jayden Lee and Jamie Engelbert scored for the Stingrays, while Mitchell Gibson made 20 saves in the loss.

The Stingrays showed aggression from the start, outscoring the Icemen 13-7 in the first period.

Ivan Chukarov opened the scoring for Jacksonville 10:02 into the first period. Chukarov took a pass from Logan Cockerill and beat Gibson alone right in front of the goal to give the Icemen a 1-0 lead.

The Icemen doubled their lead less than five minutes into the second. After a save by Gibson on a shot from the right circle by Brody Crane, the puck deflected off the leg of Liam Coughlin.

The Stingrays reduced the deficit midway through the second half. After an early one-timer from Kupka, chaos ensued in front of the net, and Kupka pushed the puck home to break the shutout. Tyler Weiss and Lee contributed to Kupka’s fourth goal of the year.

The Icemen regained their two-goal lead with less than two minutes remaining in the second half. Jacksonville captain Christopher Brown came into the slot and beat Gibson’s glove side to give the Icemen a 3-1 lead.

Late in the third period, with the goalie down and a 6-on-5 advantage, Lee scored his second goal in two games with a shot through traffic from the top of the point.

Chukarov scored his second goal of the match into an empty net with a minute and a half remaining.

The Stingrays once again cut the lead to one with another 6-on-5 goal. Engelbert scored his first professional goal with sixteen seconds left in the game with a wrist shot from the slot.

Brendan Harris iced the game for Jacksonville with a second empty-net goal with five seconds left.

The Stingrays will begin their first four-game week Wednesday against the Worcester Railers on the road at 10:30 a.m.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.