Charleston, S.C. – Defenseman R.J. Anderson scored a hat trick Sunday to lead the Johnstown Chiefs to a 7-1 victory against the defending ECHL champion South Carolina Sting Rays at North Charleston Coliseum.
Anderson added two assists on the night for five points overall, and the Chiefs were able to avoid being swept during its three-game road trip through the ECHL South Division. Johnstown lost back-to-back games against the Charlotte Checkers, losing 7-4 Friday and 6-2 Saturday.
Trying to snap a three-game losing streak, the Sting Rays jumped out to an early lead on a goal by forward Rob Ricci. Ricci opened the scoring at 6:01 of the first period with his sixth goal of the season. Johann Kroll and Matt Scherer assisted on the Sting Rays only tally of the night.
Johnstown took advantage of a hooking penalty to South Carolina left wing Spencer Carbery to tie the game at 1-1, and the Chiefs never looked back, scoring three goals in less than three minutes.
Connor Shields scored with the man advantage, notching his eighth goal of the season and tying the game at 9:51 of the period. Chris Zarb and Jarrett Konkle assisted. Less than a minute later Mike Bartlett recorded his fifth goal of year at 10:27. The goal was unassisted. Anderson registered his first point of the night, assisting on Troy Schwab’s fourth goal of the season at 12:09. Konkle also assisted as the Chiefs closed out the first period scoring with the 3-1 lead..
Johnstown continued its dominance in the second period and scored three more goals to finish with a 6-1 lead after two. Anderson began the scoring, beating Sting Rays goaltender Braden Holtby for his first goal of the game and first of the season at 2:27 with Jim McKenzie earning the lone assist. Just over six minutes later, Bryan Marshall chased Holtby from the South Carolina goal at 8:51, notching his third of the season. Anderson and Ryan Menei assisted. Anderson closed out the second period with his second goal of the game at 18:42, assisted Sean Berkstresser and Mike Couch.
The Chiefs scored quickly to open the third, but it was the Sting Rays that had the momentum by outshooting Johnstown 14-to-7 in the final period. Anderson completed his hat trick at 3:11 of the third period with assists by Menei and Bartlett, while Chiefs goalie Kris Mayotte staved off the Sting Rays for his second win of the season.
The win improved the Chiefs to 4-8-3-0 on the season and 3-5-1-0 in November. The Sting Rays dropped to 9-6-1-3 overall.
Johnstown returns home to host the Reading Royals Nov. 25 for the first of three games at the Cambria County War Memorial over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Sting Rays will visit Nov. 27, and the Royals will return Nov. 28.
Scoring:
Team: 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Johnstown: 3 3 1 7
South Carolina: 1 0 0 1
Shots:
Team: 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Johnstown: 9 13 7 29
South Carolina: 9 6 14 29
Power Play:
Johnstown: 1-for-6
South Carolina: 0-for-6
Three Stars:
1. Johnstown – R.J. Anderson
2. Johnstown – Kris Mayotte
3. Johnstown – Mike Bartlett
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