Admirals Come From Behind to Defeat Stingrays 5-4

NORFOLK, VA  --  The Norfolk Admirals were looking to rebound on Friday night after falling by a narrow 3-2 contest last Saturday against Greenville. The Admirals turned to Brandon Halverson for Friday Night’s Contest as they took on the first place South Carolina Stingrays.The Admirals got on the board first with a goal from Alex Rodriguez. Brayden Sherbinin was able to keep the puck in the South Carolina zone at the blue line where he found Ben Holmstrom in the right circle. He who fired a shot towards the net while falling down, which was initially saved by Parker Milner. The rebound fell to the stick of Rodriguez who was able to knock the puck into the Stingrays net just a minute into the contest. Sherbinin picked up his first assist of the season on the goal.South Carolina answered the Norfolk tally with a goal from Dan Desalvo. Cole Ully skated into the Norfolk zone on an odd man rush streaking down the left side and into the middle where he fired off a shot that was initially saved by Halverson. The rebound found the stick of DeSalvo who was able to slide the puck into the net to tie the game at one goal apiece.Norfolk would retake the lead on a goal from rookie Forward, Artem Ivanyuzhenkov. South Carolina was unable to clear the puck out of their own zone which allowed Norfolk to retain possession. The attempted clearing attempt bounced off the skate of a Stingray defender right to Ivanyuzhenkov who fired off a shot that beat Milner five hole to give Norfolk a 2-1 lead.South Carolina once again tied the game at two with a shorthanded goal from Tim Harrison. The Admirals turned the puck over in the neutral zone which led to a rush into the Norfolk zone on the right side for the Rays. Tommy Hughes dropped a pass back for Harrison who ripped a shot over the glove hand of Halverson to tie the game at two.South Carolina scored two goals only a minute apart to gain a two-goal advantage in the second period. Matthew Weis skated into the Norfolk zone after a turnover, passed the puck to Max Novak who one-timed a shot past Halverson to give South Carolina a 3-2 lead. The Stingrays added another goal as Harrison shot the puck from the blue line which was initially saved by Halverson. An Admirals defender attempted to slide the puck under the goaltender to freeze it but Jordan Klimek found the loose change and cashed in, giving South Carolina a 4-2 lead.The Admirals were being outshot, but got a perfect opportunity to get back into the game after Sebastian Vidmar was tripped on a breakaway, which led to a penalty shot.Vidmar skated into the South Carolina zone in on Milner and fired a soft shot over the shoulder to cut the lead to 4-3 at 18:31 of the second period.The Stingrays peppered Halverson in the 3rd period, but were unable to solve the Norfolk netminder once again.Late in the third period, with the goalie pulled, the Admirals tied the game with a goal from Ben Holmstrom. Ivanyuzhenkov dumped the puck in behind the South Carolina net where Sherbenin backhanded a pass to Holmstrom who put the puck over Milner to tie the game at four. The game remained tied and headed to overtime.Both teams had a chance on a power-play, but it was ultimately the Admirals who would taste victory. River Rymsha skated up the right wall and passed the puck off to Shawn McBride to set up the power-play. McBride played the puck to Phillips in the left circle who one-timed a shot for his first goal with the Admirals to beat the Stingrays 5-4.Halverson was dynamic for the Admirals, making 38 saves on 42 shots for his fourth game of the year, while Milner suffered his second overtime defeat on the year.

Written by Kristopher Clark