JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Wednesday, the Jacksonville Icemen faced the South Carolina Stingrays for a pre-Thanksgiving game on Gobble-Wobble Night. The Stingrays defeated the Icemen 4-1.
South Carolina came into the game with speed, jumping on the board just 1:28 into the game on a goal by Kyler Kupka on a cross-feed from Alexander Suzdalev. Jacksonville, which has several of its top players out with injury, struggled with puck possession and offensive line pressure.
South Carolina started the second period with another early-period goal from Charlie Combs at 2:44. This came on a deflected shot from Jamie Engelbert, to put the Stingrays up 2-0. Jacksonville’s Zach Jordan briefly made it a one-goal game with a shorthanded goal at 13:02, while Brody Crane sat in the penalty box serving two double minor penalties. The momentum boost for Jacksonville was short-lived, as Josh Wilkins would score 46 seconds later while still on the powerplay to put South Carolina up 3-1. Jacksonville struggled to pressure South Carolina for the remainder of the period, being outshot 13 to 5.
Like the first two periods, South Carolina struck early, with Alexander Suzdalev scoring at 1:26 on a puck feed from Kyler Kupka. Jacksonville continued to struggle on the offense, and even though they tied South Carolina at 13 shots a piece during the period, they were unable to find the back of the net past Seth Eisele.
Both teams play on Friday, with Jacksonville on the road against the Orlando Solar Bears and South Carolina at home against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder, for highlights from the game.
