MANCHESTER, NH – Trailing in the third period, the South Carolina Stingrays (24-17-2-1) came back to defeat the Manchester Monarchs (27-11-4-4) by a final score of 3-2 with an overtime-winning goal by forward Domenic Monardo at 2:34 of the extra period Friday night at the SNHU Arena.
The team’s second line of Monardo, Andrew Cherniwchan and Rob Flick factored in all of the scoring for the Stingrays in the victory, with each forward accounting for a goal and two assists in the win. Goaltender Adam Carlson also played a big role, making 33 saves including some stops at key times late in the game.
South Carolina won their eighth game of the season in overtime, which leads the ECHL.
Cherniwchan gave the Rays the early 1-0 lead at 2:02 of the opening period with his second goal of the season. The forward raced past the Monarchs’ defense, put the puck on his backhand and lifted it up to the top of the net to beat goaltender Sam Brittain.
Assists on the Cherniwchan tally were given to forwards Domenic Monardo and Rob Flick.
Manchester grabbed the lead in the first five minutes of the second period with tallies by Rihards Bukarts and Joe Diamond at 2:11 and 4:17 of the period respectively to take control of the game at 2-1.
But Flick tied things up for South Carolina at 2-2 with 9:25 to go in the third on his 20th tally of the year from Monardo and Cherniwchan. The Rays went to work on a textbook passing play off the rush in which Monardo set up Flick, who had a wide open net to shoot at.
With the game still tied at the end of the third, the contest moved to overtime. After outlasting a few good chances by Manchester in the opening two minutes, South Carolina started to tip the scales back in their favor and gained chances near the Monarchs net.
With the Rays applying pressure in the offensive zone, the puck found Monardo in front and the forward used a wrist shot to beat Brittain up high for the game-winner. Cherniwchan earned the first helper on the final strike of the night, while Flick picked up the second assist.
South Carolina outshot the Monarchs 37-35 in the contest. Brittain finished the game with 34 saves in a losing effort for Manchester.
Neither team was able to capitalize on the man-advantage, as the Stingrays finished 0-for-3 on the power play while the Monarchs were 0-for-1.
The Stingrays and Monarchs will play the rubber game of their week-long series Saturday night at 6 p.m. South Carolina returns home to face Orlando on Sunday, Feb. 12 at the North Charleston Coliseum at 3:05 p.m.
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