JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Icemen punched their ticket to the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Saturday night by defeating the visiting Savannah Ghost Pirates 5-2. The victory clinched a playoff spot in the first round of the South Division for the Icemen, for the fourth consecutive season
Jacksonville jumped to an early lead just 27 seconds into the game on a goal by Brenden Harris, who backhanded the puck past Keith Kinkaid, setting the tone of the game. Logan Cockerill scored his first of two goals on the night at 3:56. Brenden Harris backhanded the puck from behind the goal line to Cockerill, who one-timed the puck into the back of the net to put Jacksonville up 2-0. Just over seven minutes later, Jacksonville continued their blitz of Savannah with a powerplay goal from Captain Christopher Brown. On a left circle pass from Logan Cockerill, Brown tried to pass the puck from the left side of the net, which saw the puck flip up in the air off Kinkaid and into the back of the net as he tried to bat it away, for a 3-0 lead.
Savannah found their legs in the second period with a powerplay goal from Josh Davis, whose snap shot beat Justen Close at 15:57 to make it 3-1. At 18:22 of the second, Nick Granowicz made it a one-goal game on a center pass from former Jacksonville player Mackenzie Dwyer. With a large number of Savannah fans in attendance, their attempts to copy Jacksonville’s goal chant were drowned out both times by the Icemen fans.
With Jacksonville needing to win in regulation to clinch their playoff spot, Ivan Chukarov made it 4-2 at 12:46 of the third period with a long-range shot that deflected off a Savannah player. Logan Cockerill scored his second of the night with an empty-net goal with five seconds left on the clock, earning him the #1 star of the game.
On Sunday afternoon, Jacksonville faces the South Carolina Stingrays, currently the top team in the South Division. Savannah also faces the Orlando Solar Bears on Sunday afternoon for the last game of a six-game road trip.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder for highlights from the game.
Discover more from Inside The Rink
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
