NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Matt Vernon stopped 31 of 32 shots to help lead the Jacksonville Icemen to a tight 2-1 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays Sunday afternoon.
The Icemen struck first, when Connor Russell took a shot with traffic in front of Stingrays goaltender Mitchell Gibson. The puck slipped through traffic and beat a screened Mitchell for the goal. The goal was Russell’s first of his professional career.
However, the Icemen’s 1-0 lead lasted just 30 seconds, as forward Josh Wilkins attempted a wraparound that that Icemen netminder managed to get a piece of, but the puck deflected up in the air floated softly over Vernon’s shoulder and into the net for the tying goal.
Both Vernon and Gibson continued to perform well in goal, keeping the score tied at one until the halfway mark of the third period. That is when the Icemen use great passing to set up Garret Cockerill for his third goal of the season. Dominick Mersch collected a seam pass from Chri Grando and then centered to the center point for Cockerill who hammered a shot that beat Gibson for the go-ahead marker.
Vernon would go on to stop all 15 South Carolina shots in the third period and the Icemen went on to win by a 2-1 count. The Icemen remain on the road next week for games at Atlanta and Greenville next weekend.
The Icemen’s next home game is set for January 27 against Savannah at 7:00 p.m.
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