South Carolina’s Season Ends in Game 5 of South Division Finals

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The South Carolina Stingrays’ season came to an end in Game 5 of the South Division Finals as they fell to the Florida Everblades, 3-1, on Sunday night at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 3,666 fans.

Neither side could figure out the goaltenders in the first period. Seth Eisele, making his second straight start for South Carolina, and Cam Johnson for Florida, kept both offenses quiet in the first.

In the second period, the Everblades started the frame on a 5-on-3 power play, but could not capitalize with Eisele denying multiple chances.

The Stingrays spent a majority of the period in their own end with Florida pressuring, but Eisele continued to stand tall in net. The Everblades had 18 shots in the second period alone as the Lake Elmo, MN native turned aside every chance, keeping the game scoreless going to the third.

Florida eventually broke through in the third. Isaac Nurse punched in a loose puck in front to give the Everblades a 1-0 lead 7:11 into the frame. Kyle Betts then doubled the visitors’ advantage less than two minutes later on a rebound.

Trailing by two in the final minutes, the Stingrays pulled Eisele for the extra attacker and converted. Jalen Luypen scored with 2:38 remaining in regulation, cutting the deficit in half, 2-1.

The Stingrays again pulled Eisele for the extra attacker, but Carson Gicewicz scored an empty-net goal with 1:09 left to ice the 3-1 win for the Everblades and seal the series, beating South Carolina in five games, 4-1.