JACKSONVILLE, FL – Riley Fiddler-Schultz scored twice, while Joe Murdaca stopped 22 of 23 shots faced to the lead the Jacksonville Icemen to 4-1 win over the Orlando Solar Bears in front of an announced crowd of 9,724 at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Icemen would strike first in this one, as Logan Cockerill blazed into the zone, circled behind the net and left a pass in front to Riley Fiddler-Schultz who batted the puck in for the game’s first tally.
The Solar Bears countered in the final seconds of the opening frame as Jesse Jacques delivered a shot that hit off a stick of an Icemen defenseman and then redirected past Icemen goaltender Joe Murdaca to tie the game with eight second remaining in the period.
In the second period the Icemen, re-claimed the lead, as Olivier Nadeau set up Fiddler-Schultz with a pass from behind the net for his second goal of the game to make it a 2-1 count.
The Icemen dominated the second period with 16 shots, but Orlando goaltender Brandon Halverson prevented the Icemen from pulling away any further in the middle frame.
The early part of the third period remained tight, but the Icemen finally netted the insurance marker they were looking for moments following a successful penalty kill. Jerry D’Amigo led a 2-on-1 rush into the zone down the right wing. D’Amigo gave a look to the trailer on the opposite wing, but called his own number and shot the puck past Halverson to extend the Jacksonville lead to 3-1.
The Icemen’s Brendan Harris potted an empty-net tally in the closing minutes to secure the 4-1 Jacksonville victory extend their points streak to eight games. The Icemen now pull within six points of first place Greenville in the South Division.
Up next the Icemen will play host to the Florida Everblades on Friday, February. 16 at 7:00 p.m.
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