Stingrays stave off elimination 3-2 in O/T

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The defending Kelly Cup Champions fought off elimination in another hotly contested match with the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Stingrays won 3-2 in overtime to tie the series and set up the deciding game on Sunday. This was the second straight over-time game, the two teams have played.   Forward Gregg Johnson redirected a shot from the point, from rookie defenseman Derek Keller six minutes into the extra period for the win.  Keller assisted on all three South Carolina goals in the game.       A crowd of 2,197 fans watched South Carolina hang on to their Kelly Cup repeat dreams. This is the third time in the last three years that the two teams have met in the playoffs.   Last year the Stingrays swept the Cyclones on their way to their third Kelly Cup.   The previous year the Cyclones ousted the ‘Rays in five games on their way to winning the same trophy.   Both goalies played outstanding games as they made excellent save after save, all night long. Jeremy Smith stopped 22 of 25 shots, while Todd Ford swept aside 22 of 24 shots in the win.        The first period was a replay of last night’s defensive struggle, a 1-0 win in overtime by the Cyclones.   Both teams played hard, tough, defense and held the other squad to less than double digit shot totals in the first twenty minutes. The ‘Rays had eight shots while the Cyclones launched five. Unlike the marathon scoreless hockey match of last night however, both teams were able to score in period one.    

Dylan Yeo used a beautiful individual effort to put the Stingrays into a first period lead as he took a set up pass from Keller, drove hard along the right side boards, cut to the center around the defense and went from backhand to forehand to stuff the puck past rookie Cincinnati goaltender Smith. The goal came at the 11:21 of the period.       Cincinnati answered on a Baret Ehgoetz backhander from the bottom of the left side circle through traffic, a shot that rolled slowly past ‘Rays’ goalie Ford into the net. The goal at 18:58 was assisted by Josh Heidinger, last night’s Cyclones’ hero and Mathieu Aubin. Period one ended tied 1-1.     Period two opened up with a lot more offensive effort by both teams. Smith was required to make a number of early second period saves, as South Carolina had three good opportunities in the first minute of the stanza. The Cyclones then came close in the second minute of the period when a shot hit the goal post behind Ford. A minute or so later, the Cyclones missed an almost empty net as Ford was down and the net open. The shot went high. This miss was emblematic of the whole series as there has been a pattern of both teams being unable to cash in on seemingly sure opportunities.     The Cyclones began to tilt the ice mid-way through the second period. The pressure paid off on a turn-over as the Cyclones used a three on two rush to take a 2-1 lead.   Ian McKenzie got a back door tip in at 14:33 off of a rush and beautiful tic-tac-toe setups form Ehgoetz and Will Ortiz.   Momentum shifted again at 15:49, when the ‘Rays’ Trevor Bruess muscled his way to the net to score. He scored with Cyclones’ defenseman Brian O’Hanley draped on him as he used sheer strength to get the shot off.   Rookie Jake Hauswirth got his first professional point with the primary assist, as Keller picked up his second assist on the score. The period ended tied at 2-2.   The action continued hot in period three, as the Cyclones killed off two mid-period penalties, an elbowing minor and then a delay of game call.   Smith was again up to the occasion as he made two spectacular saves to keep the score tied at 2-2 and send the game into the extra period.   The Cyclones held the ‘Rays to just three shots in the period despite the South Carolina power plays.   The Cyclones brought a 7-3 record in playoff overtime games while the ‘Rays were 16-16 before tonight’s extra time.   The overtime period began with the teams skating four on four for the first two minutes as coincidental minors had been assessed by Referee Nick Krebsbach at the end of regulation time.       Neither team could score, but the Stingrays were one outstanding save by Ford away from elimination. He made the save of the night early in overtime. He stopped the original shot and then did a 360 turn, to flop on the rebound and stop an almost certain goal.   “That save seemed to energize our team” said ‘Rays’ Coach Cail MacLean. He credited Ford’s save with “giving our team the momentum we needed to survive.”   They did so at 6:09 into the extra period when Jeff Caister on one point, slipped the puck over to Keller on the other point. His blast from the blue line was redirected over the glove of Smith by G. Johnson for the win.       MacLean’s reaction was both elation and relief. “This was a big game by the rookie Keller and the team worked very hard. Persistence was the key given Smith’s performance in goal.”      The deciding game five is scheduled Sunday night with a 7:05 faceoff at the North Charleston Coliseum. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at Rob.Huelsman@prohockeynews.com