JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Friday night, the Jacksonville Icemen faced the Atlanta Gladiators for the first time this season. The Icemen took a commanding 5-0 victory, earning netminder Justen Close his first professional career shutout in only his second-ever pro game after turning away all 28 shots faced.
Jacksonville’s Ty Cheveldayoff scored the first goal of the game at 3:12 of the first period, deflecting the puck from Garrett Van Wyhe, for his first goal as an Icemen player. Chris Grando scored a powerplay goal at 17:42, for his first goal and point of the season, to end the first period up 2-0.
After a scoreless second period, Icemen captain, Christopher Brown made it 3-0 at 7:20 of the third period, on a beautiful pass from Peter Tischke who picked up the rebound on his shot, quickly passing it to Brown who one timed it past Drew DeRidder. With frustrations growing for Atlanta, Zach Jordan made it 4-0 at 11:05, on a quick release shot from the left face-off dot area, after quickly entering the zone. Justin McRae made it 5-0 at 16:30, assisted by Ty Cheveldayoff and Jonathan Hampton.
Jacksonville will face the South Carolina Stingrays Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder, for highlights from the game.
