Written by Jake WheelerJACKSONVILLE, FL- The Jacksonville Icemen defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 5-2 with goaltender Francois Brassard making 22 saves in the win. Icemen forwards Jake Elmer (2), Derek Lodermeier and Abbott Girduckis along with defenseman Pavel Vorobei picked up the tallies in this contest.
The Icemen got off to a great start in the period as they had all of the early momentum. After killing a Stingrays power play, the Icemen had a powerplay of their own and with a few seconds left on the man advantage defenseman Pavel Vorobei shot a snapshot from the top of the left faceoff dot and scored to make it a one goal game.
Moments later, the Icemen would go back on the powerplay, this time a double minor, and forward Ara Nazarian centered the puck and forward Jake Elmer buried it to make it a two-goal game.
About eight minutes into the second period, the Stingrays would get on the board on a goal from Lawton Courtnall to bring their deficit back within one. Moments later, the Icemen would head back to the penalty kill but the defense came up big and did not allow them to capitalize.
Jacksonville received a late powerplay opportunity and was able to capitalize as forward Abbott Girduckis caught a pass in the slot and buried it to regain the two-goal lead. Following 40 minutes of play, Jacksonville leads 3-1 while outshooting South Carolina 22-18.
In the third, the Icemen picked up where they left off and had another strong start to the period. A few minutes in, Icemen forward Jake Elmer collected a pass in the slot and buried his second goal of the game to take a commanding three-goal lead.
Moments later, Courtnall scored his second to bring themselves back within two. The rest of the period featured fast paced, back-and-forth play with each team playing well defensively.
Jacksonville forward Derek Lodermeier would seal the deal with an empty net goal to regain their three-goal lead. The Icemen won the game 5-2 while outshooting the Stingrays 31-24.
The Icemen are back at home on Wednesday, February 23rd at 7pm versus the Norfolk Admirals.
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