ESTERO, FL – Matt Vernon stopped all 30 shots faced to guide the Jacksonville Icemen to a 5-0 win over the Florida Everblades in Game 5 of the South Division Semifinals Friday night at Hertz Arena. The Icemen now take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Both teams held each other in check for the first 27 minutes of the contest, but the Icemen took advantage of a Florida miscue as they were transitioning out of their own end. Icemen forward Matheson Iacopelli jumped on a turnover at the Everblades blue line and took off on the breakaway. Iacopelli made a couple of deke moves before beating Florida goaltender Cam Johnson low of the tally to give the Icemen a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Damien Giroux skated to the puck at the half wall on the left wing side. Sensing defensive pressure coming he immediately hammered a slapshot on goal that managed to sneak into the net to make it 2-0 lcemen edge.
Jacksonville extended the lead to 3-0 moments later on the power play, on some tic-tac-toe passing that is finished off by Olivier Nadeau who finished off the chance on the backside of the crease.
The Icemen took the 3-0 advantage into the third period, and the Everblades tried to push back in the third period. However, Captain Christopher Brown quickly quelled that notion as he raced into to join the rush and sniped a shot from the circle that ripped high past Johnson’s Glove to make it 4-0.
Matt Vernon continued to turn aside Florida opportunities throughout the game and for the remainder of the period. Ryan Scarfo sealed the game with an empty-net tally to put the game at its final of 5-0.
The Icemen now take a 3-1 lead in the series and will have an opportunity to close it out Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Hertz Arena.
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