South Carolina strikes late, surges past Jacksonville Icemen Saturday

Turning point: The South Carolina Stingrays' Tyson Empey scored the go-ahead goal at 18:15 of the second period, part of a four-goal spurt that sank the Jacksonville Icemen 5-3 in Saturday night's ECHL hockey at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Three stars: 1. Austin Magera, South Carolina (two goals, one assist). 2. Kyler Kupka, South Carolina (one goal, one assist). 3. Jacob Hudson, South Carolina (two assists).

Penalty box: Brandon Fortunato gave the Icemen (41-21-5-1) a first-period lead with a power-play goal for his first score of the season.

Around the rink: South Carolina (39-25-4-2), currently in a three-way fight with Florida and Orlando for the last two playoff berths from the ECHL South Division, stretched its series advantage to 6-2-0-0 over the Icemen for the season. The teams could be on course to meet again in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. ... Matt Vernon saved 20 shots for Jacksonville. ... The Icemen grabbed a 3-1 lead with goals from Fortunato, Garrett Van Wyhe and Riley Fiddler-Schultz before the Stingrays' return.

Up next: The Icemen continue their road trip with a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday game at the Florida Everblades.

The Times-Union

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: South Carolina strikes late, surges past Jacksonville Icemen Saturday