Icemen Close Regular Season with Loss at Orlando

ORLANDO, FL – The Orlando Solar Bears used a four-goal second period to defeat the Jacksonville Icemen in the regular season finale at the Amway Center Sunday afternoon.  With the loss, the Icemen must now wait until the result of Sunday evening’s game between South Carolina and Atlanta to determine their first-round playoff opponent.  The Icemen will face either the Solar Bears or Florida Everblades in the first round.  Opponent and first round match-up will be announced Sunday night following the conclusion of the Atlanta – South Carolina game. 

It took just 25 seconds for the Icemen to claim a 1-0 lead in the game.  Kris Newbury buzzed into the zone on the left wing and hammered a booming slapshot that beat Orlando goaltender Connor Ingram to give Jacksonville a 1-0 lead.

Orlando evened the score on the power play at 8:47 of the opening frame.  The Icemen failed to clear the puck out the of the zone and Dylan Fitze fielded the puck at the low circle and snapped shot over the shoulder of the Jacksonville netminder Angus Redmond. 

The second period belonged to the Solar Bears. Orlando rattled off four tallies in the middle frame with a second power play strike from Fitze just 1:44 into the period, 

Orlando extended its lead halfway thought the middle frame on a tally by Colby McAuley.  Alexander Kuqali delivered a shot from up high that was stopped by Redmond and the rebound bounced to Troy Bourke at the crease and Redmond managed to turn that chance aside as well.  However, the second rebound hit the stick of McAuley and he slid a shot low into the net on the third chance opportunity.

A little more than a minute later, Michael Brodzinkski delivered a slapshot that clipped off the inside of the post and banked in for a fourth Orlando goal to put the score at 4-1. 

One minute and 15 seconds later, the Solar Bears made it 5-1 when Chris LeBlanc steered a pass to Alex Kuqali who finished off a chance on the backside of the net for this third goal of the year.   Orlando took the four-goal edge into the second intermission, 

The Icemen used a power play goal at 14:01 of the third period to pull within three.  Hayden Shaw forwarded a perfect pass down the ice to springboard Garet Hunt on a breakaway attempt.  Hunt skated down the slot and curled a shot over the shoulder of Ingram to put the score at 5-2.  Shaw’s assist on the play marked the first point of his prof

Despite the goal, Orlando would hold the Icemen in check for the remainder of the period to secure a 5-2 win in the regular season finale. 

The Icemen will await their first round playoff match-up that will begin next week.  Fans can tune into all playoff games on Mixlr, and on ECHL.TV. 

Playoff Hockey is Coming to Jacksonville!

The Icemen have clinched a spot in the 2019 Kelly Cup Playoffs!  The Icemen will host first round playoff games on April 18 & 19, and if necessary on Saturday, April 20.  Single game tickets for the first two home games of the first round of the playoffs will go on sale on Thursday at 10:00 a.m.  Opponent will be announced at a later date.  Single game tickets may be purchased online on Ticketmaster  

For more information contact the Icemen office at 904-602-7825.

The 2018-19 Jacksonville Icemen Season is Presented by Community First Credit Union

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