The Jacksonville Icemen hosted divisional leader, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, on Friday, March 22nd, and March 23rd; both games were at 7 pm. The Icemen currently stand five points behind the Swamp Rabbits and are looking to gain closer to the top.
Friday’s matchup between the two teams started with a quick wrist-shot goal by Greenville’s Carter Souch as he scored in the first 90 seconds to give Greenville the early lead. Jacksonville would answer five minutes later as Matheson Iacopelli would get his first of the night, taking advantage of the turnover in front with the backhand. Both teams would continue to shoot their shots, but it would be Greenville would be the one to hit the back of the net again in the first period. Carter Souch would get the stuff attempt and put the puck past Joe Murdaca.
Greenville would look to broaden its lead as Carter Souch would get his third of the night at 5;12, pushing the wrist shot in front into the back of the net. Jacksonville would later get a penalty shot late in the second period. Matheson Iacopelli would take the shot and place the wrist shot right past Greenville’s goalie. Greenville would respond with a wrist shot through the heavy traffic, into the net. The Icemen would respond seconds later as they crashed the net. Garrett Van Wyhe got the tip of the stick to push the backhand into the net. Tanner Eberle would get one more shot into the net for Greenville, giving them the 5 – 3 lead going into the third.
Jacksonville responded early in the third, at 2:18, and Matheson Iacopelli got the rebound shot, giving him a hat trick for the night. Greenville held the Icemen off the rest of the period and captured the win 5 – 4. The teams will look to face off again on Saturday, March 23rd, at 7 pm
The Icemen were looking to break even with Greenville going into Saturday’s matchup, and Jacksonville responded. Jacksonville put up three goals in the first period. Chris Grando would be the first Icemen player on the board, scoring a one-timer past Greenville goalie Jacob Ingham. Jerry D’Amigo would be the second Icemen player on the board; Logan Cockerill would give the pass from the boards, putting the puck in front of the goal. This allowed D’Amigo to stuff the puck into the net. Icemen player Lincoln Erne would be called for a two-minute holding penalty at 9:41, giving Greenville the power play. Ben Freeman would be the Swamp Rabbit to score a power play goal by capitalizing on the rebound. Luc Brown would look to extend the Icemen’s lead as he hit a one-timer, bouncing off the cross and past the goal line. The Icemen would have a hot first period, giving them the early lead against Greenville 3-1.
Even though both teams continued to play strong offense and defense, Greenville would be the one to prevail in the second and third periods. In the second period, Joe Leach was able to put the wrist shot into the goal due to the heavy traffic of players in front. Greenville would continue to seek closer to the Icemen’s lead. They would pull Jacob Ingram with under two minutes to go in the third. The extra player would give Greenville the advantage as they scored with 51 seconds left in the third period. The Icemen and Swamp Rabbits would go into overtime. But Jacksonville would go into it with the advantage as Greeneville player Ben Freeman would be called for a double minor for high sticking, resulting in a four-minute penalty at 19:14 in the third.
In overtime, Jacksonville would look to seal the game, and they were able to score. However, the goal would be overturned by the ref due to interference with the goalie. Therefore, neither team would score within the seven-minute overtime, and the game would go into shootouts. Matheson Iacopelli would be the first player to shoot their shot for the Icemen. Iacopelli would get the backhanded goal, pushing the puck past Ingham, giving Jacksonville the point. Carter Souch would be up for Greenville, putting the puck past Matt Vernon, leaving the teams tied 1 -1. Logan Cockerill would be up next. Cockerill would also put the backhanded goal into the net. Brannon McManus of Greenville would miss his goal, leaving it up to the last two players, Christopher Brown of the Icemen and Brett Kemp of the Swamp Rabbits. Both players would miss their goal, allowing Jacksonville to take the win 2 -1 in shootouts.
Jacksonville will face the Orlando Solar Bears on Wednesday, March 27th, in Orlando at 7 pm. Following that, the Icemen will go on and face the Florida Everblades on Friday at 7:30 and 7 pm on Saturday.
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