Written by Jake WheelerGREENVILLE, SC- The Jacksonville Icemen defeated the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 3-2 with goaltender Francois Brassard making 34 saves to pick up the win. Icemen defenseman Pavel Vorobei and forwards Abbott Girduckis and Derek Lodermeier picked up the tallies.
The Icemen got off to a slower start in this contest as the Swamp Rabbits scored an early goal to take a one goal lead. The Icemen would quickly answer back as defenseman Pavel Vorobei corralled the puck at the point and wristed a shot past the Swamp Rabbits goaltender to tie up the game. Following the goal, Jacksonville would go on another penalty kill, however, they were able to kill this one off to keep it a tie game. The Icemen then had a powerplay of their own but were not able to convert on the man advantage. Late in the period, forward Abbott Girduckis carried the puck into the offensive zone and snapped a quick shot from the slot past Greenville’s goaltender to take a one goal lead of their own. After the first 20 minutes of play, Jacksonville leads 2-1 while trailing in shots on goal 15-9.
The Icemen got off to a great start in the second frame as they scored a few minutes in. Icemen forward Derek Lodermeier corralled a pass in the left faceoff dot and snapped it home to take a two-goal lead. This period featured back and forth play with each team trying to get their transition game going to gain an edge. Greenville would score late in the period to cut their deficit to one goal and that is where we stand after 40 minutes. Jacksonville leads 3-2 while being outshot 30-23.
The third period was just like the second where both teams played a good, back and forth period and they tried to gain an edge by using the transition game. Each team had numerous stretches of offensive zone pressure where they tried to gain momentum, however, there was a lot of neutral zone play. There was not a lot of time and space which makes it difficult for each team to really generate a lot of chances. Both teams had a powerplay in the last frame but neither of them was successful. The Icemen won the game 3-2 while being outshot 36-30.
The Icemen play at home on Saturday, February 12th at 7pm versus the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
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