Written by Jake Wheeler 

JACKSONVILLE, FL- Christopher Brown was able to pot two goals and Pascal Aquin scored a beauty just 39 seconds into overtime to give the Jacksonville Icemen the 4-3 win over the Florida Everblades Sunday afternoon.

In the opening period, the Icemen were called for a penalty which sent Florida to the powerplay. The Everblades Myles Powell was able to bury a rebound past Charles Williams to give his team a one-goal lead.

 The physicality kept up as Michael Kim delivered a crushing open ice hit on the Everblades captain, John McCarron. With about two minutes to go in the period, Jacksonville’s McKinnon and Florida’s Neuber had a spirited tilt at the Icemen’s blue line, while Jacksonville’s Friend and Florida’s Berzolla had a tilt of their own at center ice. Both Friend and Berzolla received game misconducts because they started a second fight. At the end of 20 minutes the Everblades lead 1-0 while the Icemen lead in shots on goal 9-6.

About four minutes into the second period Florida’s Koper was sent off for tripping which gave the Icemen powerplay another opportunity. While on the man advantage, Jacksonville forward Christopher Brown sniped his 14th goal of the season from the left face-off dot to tie the game at 1-1.

Following the special teams play, Charles Williams made two great saves for the Icemen to keep the game tied at one goal apiece.

Icemen forward Travis Howe was called for roughing which sent him to the box, but moments after he left the penalty box, he set up a Ara Nazarian goal from the left face-off dot as he scored his 19th tally of the season.

Moments later, Florida reclaimed the lead when Kyle Neuber was able to re-direct a goal past Williams for his first point of the season. Following 40 minutes of play the game is tied at two goals each and the Everblades lead in shots on goal 18-17.

The penalty parade continued in the third period as Icemen were called for elbowing which sent Florida to the powerplay. Florida’s Joe Pendenza was able to score on the man advantage to give them a one-goal lead early in the third period to give the Everblades a 3-2 edge.  

Later in the period, the Icemen received a powerplay of their own as Florida took two penalties which led to a 5-on-3 for Jacksonville. The Icemen were able to capitalize on the two-man advantage as Christopher Brown scored his second of the game with a one-timed blast that beat goaltender Devin Cooley to tie the game three. 

The Icemen and Everblades were tied at the end of regulation so both teams had to settle this in overtime. Jacksonville forward Pascal Aquin turned on the jets to split the Everblades defense and score off of a wrist shot from the slot to give the Icemen the second and crucial point. The Icemen won the game 4-3 while leading in shots on goal 31-27.

The Icemen continue their homestand on Tuesday, May 18th at 7 pm versus the Orlando Solar Bears.