Written by Jake Wheeler
JACKSONVILLE, FL- The Jacksonville Icemen defeated the Florida Everblades 3-2 in overtime to keep their win streak intact. Icemen goaltender Charles Williams played great with Craig Martin scoring his 5th of the season and Ben Hawerchuk getting his second overtime goal this season.
The Icemen started off the game slow with the Everblades getting off to a very good start controlling the play right from the beginning. Florida grabbed their first goal at the 9:54 mark in the period off of a miscommunication between an Icemen defenseman and goaltender Charles Williams.
Two minutes later, the Icemen could not clear the zone which resulted in Alex Aleardi player having a significant amount of time and space in front of goaltender Williams. Aleardi was able to room a shot top corner to give Florida a 2-0 edge
The Icemen had a much better period in the second frame as they controlled a lot of the offensive zone pressure right from the start. The physicality picked up in this period as Jacksonville defenseman Jacob Friend had a big hit in the period. The Icemen had a powerplay opportunity later in the period, however, they were unable to capitalize but gained some momentum from the chances.
The Icemen continued to heat up in the third period and were able to get a 5-on-3 power play opportunity. However, they had several chances to score, they were unable to convert.
Following the special teams play, Icemen defenseman Jacob Friend scored his first goal of the season to bring Jacksonville back within one goal. Moments later, Icemen forward Craig Martin scored again to continue his great play on the week to tie the game at two goals apiece.
Overtime would be needed to decide this game and just 23-second into overtime, the Icemen had a 3-on-1 rush and forward Ben Hawerchuk snapped home a wrist shot from the right face-off dot to win the game for Jacksonville by a score of 3-2 with the Icemen leading in shots on goal 25-22. The Icemen finish off the three-game series against the Everblades on Saturday, November 27th at 7 p.m. for the Annual Teddy Bear Toss.
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