'Blades End Road Swing with 3-2 Loss at SC

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Jeff Jakaitis made 26 saves to help lead the South Carolina Stingrays to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Everblades at the North Charleston Coliseum Sunday afternoon.

Despite being outshot 8-2 early in the opening period, the Stingrays still managed to register the game’s first goal.  Stingrays forward Matt Beca delivered a pass to Robbie Dee in the slot. Dee fired a wrist shot which beat Florida goaltender John Muse high on the glove side to give the Stingrays a 1-0 lead through the first 20 minutes played.

Florida tied the game nearly 90 seconds into the second. The ‘Blades broke into the zone on an odd man rush. Alex Hutchings received, then delivered a pass from the slot to Brayden Irwin to the right wing circle. Irwin snapped a shot high past Stingrays netminder Jeff Jakaitis.

South Carolina grabbed the lead two minutes later on a goal by Luka Vidmar on the power play giving the Rays a 2-1 advantage.

The Everblades countered with a power play goal of their own at 6:09 of the second. Florida used some crisp passing in the middle to feed the puck to Brayden Irwin, who hammered the puck on the backside of Jakaitis for the goal. Irwin’s second goal tied the game at two.

The Stingrays reclaimed the lead later in the period. Tyler McNeely centered a pass into the slot to Chris Langkow who beat Muse on the glove side for the go-ahead goal. South Carolina took a 3-2 lead into the second break.

Florida attempted to net the equalizer in the third, outshooting the Stingrays 13-4 in the period. However, Jakaitis was on the top of his game, and turned aside everything thrown his way to preserve the 3-2 victory for the Rays.

Jakaitis earns his first win of the season stopping 26 of 28 shots, while Muse takes the loss allowing three goals on 19 shots faced.

Florida now returns home to open up a three game set against the Toledo Walleye beginning on Wednesday at Germain Arena. Wednesday’s game features $2 drafts, $2 wines, and $2 hot dogs all night long! Wednesday is also College Night, as ladies can receive a free ticket, while guys can receive a $5 ticket by presenting their college I.D. to the Capital Bank Box Office prior to the game.  The game will be broadcast on 96 K-Rock (96.1).

Ticket Information: The Capital Bank Box Office is open Monday thru Friday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Fans may also call Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000, or order online at www.ticketmaster.com

Partial-season packages are still available, and start as low as $150 and offer a flexible option for fans. For more information on all available packages, call the Everblades office at 239-948-7825.