11/01/2007 7:41 AM -
    (COLUMBIA, S.C.) Oct. 31, 2007--Peter Tsimikalis exploded for five points and Todd Ford withstood a late flurry of shots as the Columbia Inferno beat the in-state rival South Carolina Stingrays 6-5 at the Carolina Coliseum Halloween night.

    South Carolina got on the board first when center Travis Morin beat Ford’s blocker shoulder with a snapshot on a short-handed partial-breakaway just four-and-a-half minutes into the game. Tsimikalis tied the game about two minutes later when defenseman Tyson Marsh’s cross-ice pass found Tsimikalis down low in the far circle. Tsimikalis collected the puck, then waited for goaltender Josh Johnson to commit until the rookie center flipped the puck over the Stingrays goalie. South Carolina reclaimed the lead 90 seconds later when a Morin pass found a streaking Bryan Esner’s stick to squirt past Ford’s five-hole. Jeff Miles and the Inferno tied the game once more when the veteran received a Tsimikalis pass and unleashed a wrister from the near circle that beat Johnson’s blocker side with just 90 seconds left in the period.

    The Inferno took their first lead of the game four minutes into the second period as defenseman Todd Perry’s power-play wrister from the slot found daylight between Johnson’s side and his glove. His goal was assisted by centers Mac Faulkner and Tsimikalis. Miles notched his second of the night almost seven minutes into the period when, while on the power play, he snapped a cross-crease pass from Tsimikalis past Johnson before the sprawling goaltender could protect his far post. Stingrays center Matt Reid cut the game to 4-3 with seven minutes left in the second when he tapped a Paul McIlveen rebound past a helpless Ford. Tsimikalis answered on the power play with 30 seconds left in the second to stretch the Inferno lead back to two when he slapped a Tyler Doig rebound up and over Johnson’s glove, making the game 5-3.

    Daniel Sparre, parked in the bottom far circle, opened the lead to 6-3 12 minutes into the third when he converted a Patrick Wellar pass and ripped it high over Johnson’s glove side. The Stingrays were resilient in their continued attack, however, as Morin completed a hat-trick in the final four minutes, smacking home a rebound and ripping a one-timer through Ford’s legs with just 37 seconds left on the game clock to bring the score to 6-5. Ford stood tall the last half-minute, using an active stick and glove hand to deny the Stingrays’ tying bid.

    Ford finished with 21 saves on 26 shots, while Johnson stopped 30 of 36.

    The Inferno finish their five-game homestand Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3 with games against the Augusta Lynx and South Carolina Stingrays, respectively.
   
Group tickets, season tickets, fundraisers and the coolest birthday parties in town are all available by calling 803.256.782 or by logging on to the new columbiainferno.com