Written by Jake Wheeler
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC- Despite outplaying the Stingrays, the Icemen fell to South Carolina on Wednesday night 3-2. However, with a Norfolk Admirals 4-1 win at Orlando, the Icemen clinched a berth the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
The Icemen got off to a great start in period one as they controlled the play right from the start. It would not take long for the Icemen to get on the board as Victor Hadfield made a stretch pass to Brendan Harris who went in on a breakaway and scored to take the first lead of the game.
Later on, the Stingrays would strike on the powerplay as Andrew Cherniwchan scored from the slot to tie the game up at one goal apiece. After 20 minutes of play, the game was tied at 1-1
The Icemen got off to a little slower start in period two as they let their foot off of the gas briefly which allowed the Stingrays Andrew Cherniwchan to score as he got a fortuitous rebound off of the boards and buried on the shortside to take the lead.
Following the goal, the Icemen started dominating the period as they generated a lot of offensive zone pressure and chances. Jacksonville would head to their second powerplay and while they got some good looks and chances, they could not score on the man advantage. The Icemen would continue to have all of the momentum and pressure for the remainder of the period, but after 40 minutes of play, the Icemen still trailed 2-1.
About halfway through third period, the Icemen scored that tying goal thanks to Derek Lodermeier finding Ian McKinnon near the crease. McKinnon took the pass and shoved it into the net past Stingrays goaltender Hunter Shepard. goal. M
Unfortunately for Jacksonville, South Carolina would score with two minutes left in the period as Seamus Donohue buried a rebound near the crease to give them the lead. The Icemen would pull the goaltender to get out an extra attacker, but they could not find the back of the net again. The Icemen lost 3-2 despite outshooting the Stingrays 38-15.
The Icemen play in Atlanta on Friday, April 8th at 7:30pm versus the Atlanta Gladiators.
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