NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – A holiday break was just what the South Carolina Stingrays needed to get the club’s scoring touch on track. Forward Stephan Vigier had two goals and an assist, and three other Stingrays enjoyed multi-point evenings to lead South Carolina to a 5-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals in front of 3,723 fans on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Vigier sparked the Stingrays with a goal and an assist in the game’s first six minutes. At 3:05, he centered a pass from behind the goal, finding Jared Staal open the slot. Staal converted for his second goal of the season to give South Carolina a 1-0 lead.At 6:16, Staal returned the favor and setup Vigier to extend the Stingrays lead to 2-0. Staal won a race to the puck on the right wing and centered a pass across the crease. Vigier knocked the loose puck past Norfolk goaltender Adam Courchaine for his seventh goal of the season.
Vigier would score his second straight goal at 3:13 of the second period to make it 3-0 South Carolina. His tuck attempt from the goal line on the power play was denied, but he poked the rebound past Courchaine. The tally ended the netminder’s night as he was replaced by Nic Riopel.
The Admirals would respond with a pair of goals to cut South Carolina’s lead to 3-2 after two periods. Alexandre Ranger and Jonathan Lessard scored at 11:19 and 18:00 respectively.
The Stingrays would pull away with a pair of goals late in the third period. Marcus Perrier cashed in for his first goal of the season, courtesy of a beautiful backhand pass by Paul Rodrigues at 17:36 to make it 4-2. Andrew Rowe would add an empty net goal at 18:21 to seal the victory.
Branden Komm stopped 17 shots to improve to 4-0-0-0 with the Stingrays. The Stingrays outshot the Admirals 34-19.
The two teams meet again Sunday at 3:05 p.m.
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