South Carolina Stings Mariners In Maine

Home cooking is always nice, but the South Carolina Stingrays have been feasting quite nicely on road opponents this weekend.

After drubbing the Railers 8-1 in Worcester on Friday, South Carolina went to Portland, Maine, doing the same to the Mariners 6-1 on Saturday.

It was Military Appreciation Night at the Cross Insurance Arena, and a capacity crowd of 5,636 watched as the Stingrays dismantled their home team.

Alexander Suzdalev, who scored a goal in Friday’s win, put the Rays ahead 1-0 at 8:45 of the opening period, tapping in a rebound on a shot that hit the post and zipped past Mariners netminder Brad Arvanitis.

The goal came under review after Arvanitis was hit on the play., but was confirmed.

South Carolina added two more early in the second frame for a 3-0 lead. Micah Miller also scored off a rebound at 1:41, then Jeremy Engelbert scored three minutes later.

The Mariners finally got on the board at the 8:09 mark when Wyllum Deveaux punched one in off a beautiful setup by Jimmy Lambert.

Engelbert potted his second of the night and fifth in his last four games at 14:29 to increase the Stingrays’ lead back to three, where it remained at the second intermission.

Josh Wilkins wasted no time picking up a goal 26 seconds into the third period.

Ben Hawerchuk put the finishing touches on the scoring with a shot in the slot at 6:10 for the 6-1 final.

Not surprisingly, things got heated in the later stages of the game when Hawerchuk dropped the gloves and squared off with Jacob Hudson.

Shots on goal were dead even at 33. Mitchell Gibson picked up his second win of the season in the Rays’ net, while Arvanitis suffered the loss for Maine.

The two clubs are back at it again Sunday afternoon, with puck drop set for 3 Pm ET at Cross Insurance Arena. It’s “Harvest Day,” featuring a farm stand from Saco-based Leary Farm. A postgame open skate, presented by CoverME.gov, follows the game.