JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The force was strong for Star Wars Night on Saturday, with the Jacksonville Icemen taking on the visiting Orlando Solar Bears. Wearing Star Wars-themed jerseys, the Icemen came back from a 4-1 deficit to force the game into overtime, where they took a 5-4 OT victory.
The Icemen trailed by a pair of goals after the first period, on goals by Alex Frye less than six minutes in, and Orlando capitalizing on a bad turnover during an Icemen power play, which resulted in a short-handed goal by Jaydon Dureau.
Alex Frye netted his second goal of the night for Orlando at the 1:25 mark of the second period on a centering feed from Spencer Kersten, who spotted Frye all alone who put the puck back door past Matt Vernon. Garrett Van Wyhe made it a 3-1 game less than a minute later to put Jacksonville on the board. Andrew Coxhead and Connor Russell exchanged blows, with both receiving five-minute majors for fighting. Hudson Thornton and Justin McRae would also drop the gloves a few minutes later to join them in the penalty box. Another Orlando goal, less than three minutes later by Tyler Bird, resulted in a goaltending change for Jacksonville, now down by three goals. The change provided a spark for Jacksonville, who piled on the offensive zone pressure, resulting in a power play goal by Bennett MacArthur and a goal by Davis Koch to put the Icemen down by one.
Jacksonville’s Garrett Van Wyhe scored his second of the night at the 12:07 mark of the third period to tie the game and send it to overtime after three consecutive goals by the Icemen. Jacksonville controlled the puck during the OT period, keeping possession most of the time. Chris Grando scored the game-winning goal less than two minutes in, for the win.
The two teams will face each other on Sunday afternoon at the Kia Center in Orlando at 3 pm.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder for highlights from the game.
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