READING, Pa – Forward Derek DeBlois scored the game-winning goal with 1:21 left in the contest to give the South Carolina Stingrays (3-2) and 4-3 comeback victory over the Reading Royals (2-3) in Game 5 of the East Division Semifinals at Santander Arena Sunday evening. The Stingrays lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 with a chance to close Tuesday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The Royals opened the scoring 8:10 into the first period when defenseman Mike 
Marcou buried a rebound past Stingrays netminder Jeff Jakaitis (W, 24 saves on 27 shots). Stingrays forward Wayne Simpson tied the contest at 15:37 batting the puck out of the air and past the glove on Royals goalie Connor Knapp (L, 36 saves on 40 shots). Defenseman Lee Moffie, who made his postseason debut tonight, earned the primary assist and forward Caleb Herbert added the second.
Marcou buried a rebound past Stingrays netminder Jeff Jakaitis (W, 24 saves on 27 shots). Stingrays forward Wayne Simpson tied the contest at 15:37 batting the puck out of the air and past the glove on Royals goalie Connor Knapp (L, 36 saves on 40 shots). Defenseman Lee Moffie, who made his postseason debut tonight, earned the primary assist and forward Caleb Herbert added the second.Royals forward Cam Reid made it 2-1 on the power play early in the third period lifting a second opportunity past the right pad of Jakaitis at 2:37. The Stingrays made it 2-2 less than two minutes later when forward Joe Devin caught a pass from defenseman Frankie Simonelli to beat Knapp under the blocker from between the faceoff circles at 4:08. Forward Derek DeBlois recorded the second assist. Forward Sean Wiles reclaimed the lead for the Royals at 9:17.
The Stingrays continued to battle heading into the third period and were rewarded at the 7:10 mark as forward Andrew Rowe buried the game-tying tally over the glove of Knapp with help from Simpson and Herbert. As the clock wound down, an exhausted Stingrays line forced a turnover below the goal line where DeBlois curled around the right post of Knapp to send in the game-winning with 1:21 to play. The Royals received a power-play and pulled Knapp for the extra skater with 58 seconds to go to skate 6-on-4, but Devin and the Stingrays’ defense blocked multiple opportunities to seal the victory. The Stingrays finished the game 0-for-1 on the power play while the Royals went 1-for-6.
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