JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Thursday morning, in front of over 8,955 students, teachers, and fans, the Jacksonville Icemen held their annual school day game against the Orlando Solar Bears. Orlando defeated Jacksonville with a 5-3 victory.
Jacksonville dominated the first period, outshooting Orlando 15-6. Davis Koch tallied the first goal of the game at 10:43. Ivan Chukarov made a steal at the blue line and sent the puck toward Orlando netminder Ryan Fanti, who deflected it away, but Koch picked up the loose puck and put it in the back of the net to put the Icemen up 1-0.
In the second period, Icemen rookie Brody Crane scored his first goal of the season at 7:57 on a goal-mouth pass from Zach Jordan, putting the Icemen up 2-0. Things unraveled for Jacksonville after Orlando scored three straight goals, all within a 45-second period. Spencer Kersten at 15:25 on the powerplay, Brayden Low at 15:55 and Darik Angeli at 16:10, giving Orlando a 3-2 headed into the third period.
Orlando struck again in the third period, this time on a goal by Brian Chambers at 2:20, putting them up 4-2. Jacksonville’s Zach Jordan made it a one-goal game at 7:26 after Brody Crane took the puck from one blue line to the other to set a two-on-one, and saucer passed the puck to Jordan, who put the puck in goal. With time running out for Jacksonville, they pulled their netminder Justen Close for the extra attacker in the final few minutes, but Orlando’s Tyler Bird was able to score an empty net goal to secure the win.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder, for highlights from the game.
