Daschke acquires first pro goal in home loss for Toledo

TOLEDO, OH - Michigan native Derek Daschke notched the lone Toledo goal, his first as a pro, in tonight's 4-1 loss to South Carolina.

What Happened:

The South Carolina Stingrays, currently first in the ECHL's South Division, ended their Central Division road trip with a Sunday evening matchup at the Huntington Center. Overall, Toledo is only 6-19-2 against South Carolina. In an opening period that saw the Stingrays outshoot the Walleye by a count of 18-9, both teams got on the board. South Carolina struck first, an unassisted goal by Kevin O'Neil at 9:02. At 13:13, Bear Hughes put Toledo on their first power play with a cross-checking penalty. Just under a minute later, Derek Daschke rebounded TJ Hensick's saved attempt for the game-tying power play goal. Gordie Green notched the second assist. Hensick picked up the first Toledo penalty, a hooking minor at 17:50, but it was killed off with ease. 

It was all South Carolina in the second period. After killing off a slashing penalty that was assigned to Connor Hall at 4:45, the Stingrays reclaimed their lead thanks to a goal from Michael Kim at 11:07. It became a 3-1 game late in the 15th minute after Max Humitz finished on Sebastian Cossa. South Carolina outshot Toledo for the second straight period, extending their lead in that department to 33-18.

Just 2:49 into the final period, Josh Wilkins acted alone to make it a 4-1 game in favor of South Carolina. The teams went 4-on-4 three minutes later as Toledo's Brett McKenzie and South Carolina's Ryan Leibold both received roughing minors following a scrum in the Toledo zone. Two more penalties followed in the remainder of the third period, a slashing minor to Toledo's Sam Craggs at 12:41 and a tripping minor to South Carolina's Anthony Del Gaizo at 16:18, but both penalties expired with no additional scoring. The Stingrays handed Toledo their second loss of the weekend after outshooting the Walleye 42-24.

Speed Stats:

• In his sixth pro game, defenseman Derek Daschke scored his first pro goal to bring his point total to five. The Michigan native signed a Standard Player Contract with Toledo on March 23 after finishing his fifth collegiate season with the University of Minnesota Duluth. His first four seasons were spent at Miami University (Ohio).

Up Next:

Toledo will host Cincinnati in their lone game next week on Friday at 7:15 p.m.