JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There was no wasting away on Friday, as the Jacksonville Icemen held their Margaritaville Night against the visiting South Carolina Stingrays. Jimmy Buffet music played as Parrot Head fans united post-Christmas for some margaritas and hockey. The Jacksonville players wore some slick-looking tropical blue jerseys that were auctioned off post-game. If life gives you limes, make margaritas, or if your teammate gives you the puck, make a goal. The Icemen did just that, with a 7-6 win over the Stingrays. The Stingrays didn’t make it easy, though, scoring four goals in the third period to keep themselves in the game and keep fans on the edge of their seats until the final horn.
Jacksonville stunned South Carolina with an early goal from Brenden Harris less than five minutes into the game. Davis Koch and Brody Crane, scored 40 seconds apart at 13:16 and 13:56 to end the first period, with a 3-0 lead.
Five minutes into the second period, Brenden Harris lit the lamp again for his second goal on the night, lifting the puck over the blocker of Seth Eisele for his ninth goal of the season for a 4-0 lead. Ryan Hofer put the Stingrays on the board, picking up the rebound from a blocked Jordan Klimek shot to put the puck past Matt Vernon. Chase Lang made it a 5-1 contest at 15:00, and a late second-period goal by Erik Middendorf at 17:44 for South Carolina ended the period at 5-2.
An action-packed third period ensued, with six goals being scored. Andrew Perrot scored on the power play for the Stingrays three minutes in, but just over a minute later, Brayden Hislop scored his first pro-career goal to give Jacksonville a three-goal lead again. A power-play goal from Justin Nachbaur and a second goal from Andrew Perrot 31 seconds later made it a one goal game and Icemen fans nervous. Jacksonville Head Coach Brandon Mashinter called a time-out to settle his players. South Carolina pulled their netminder in the closing minutes of the game for the extra attacker, which allowed Chase Lang to score an empty-net goal with less than a minute left in the game for a two-goal cushion again. The Stingrays pulled within one again on a goal by Tyler Weiss with just 28 seconds left on the clock, but as time expired, they could not find another one to force the game to overtime.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder, for highlights from the game.
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