STINGRAYS FORCE GAME FIVE

Fighting for their season, the South Carolina Stingrays forced a game five with a 4-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings in game four of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Despite the loss, the K-Wings lead the series three games to one.

South Carolina struck first in game four with a Chris Higgins pass was redirected off the tape of Michael Dorr (2nd) and past Riley Gill 2:52 into the first period.

Scoring in similar fashion midway in the stanza, Brett Flemming found Andrew Cherniwchan on the backdoor for Cherniwchan’s second tally of the postseason.

A penalty-filled second period led to a combined four power-play chances, but no scoring for either team.

The Stingrays put the game out of reach 7:47 into the third period with a tally from Chris Higgins (3rd), who would finish the night with three points (1 goal, 2 assists).

Nick Sirota (7th) earned the K-Wings lone-goal of the game with a power-play marker at the 13:49 mark of the period, which extended his goal streak to four games and upped his point streak to eight.

With Gill pulled for an extra-man, Billy Ryan (2nd) closed out the scoring with an empty-netter.

Making 17 saves, Gill dropped his playoff record to 6-2, while Daren Machesney, who returned from the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears earlier in the afternoon, stopped 32 shots to raise his playoff record to 2-1.

Kalamazoo and South Carolina will continue the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals with game five of the best-of-seven series tomorrow Saturday, April 21st with a 7:05 p.m. encounter at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina.

If necessary, the K-Wings and Stingrays will return to Wings Stadium on Tuesday, April 24th for a 7 p.m. face-off in game six of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. During all second round home games, the K-Wings are offering special Fan Appreciation 25-cent hot dogs.

Tickets for the K-Wings round one playoff games are $16.05 and $19.95 for adults, $15.05 for seniors (62 years and older) and military (with proper ID) and only $10.05 for kids ages 12 and under. Fans can save money by purchasing K-Wings single game tickets in advance because tickets purchased on the day of a game increase by $1.

Submitted by Mike Modugno