Noah Epstein
DULUTH, GA -- Logan Cockerill’s power-play goal in the second period helped rejuvenate the Icemen after allowing back-to-back goals, as the forward went on to record a hat trick and helped lead Jacksonville to a dominant 7-2 win over Atlanta Saturday night.
Cockerill received a beautiful back-hand pass from Liam Coughlin in front of the left face-off circle and buried a shot past Ethan Haider to give the Icemen a 4-2 lead. The Icemen entered the night with the second worst power play in the ECHL at just 11.9%, but were able to capitalize when Jacksonville needed it most.
This power-play score occurred just over halfway through the second period after Atlanta scored two goals in the span of 39 seconds to cut the Icemen’s lead to just one. Derek Topatigh scored on a power play before Michael Marchesan’s third of the season made it 3-2 Icemen.
Cockerill, who previously scored his team’s second goal of the game, put the Icemen up 5-2 roughly four minutes later to secure the hat trick.
Chase Lang scored under a minute later to make it 6-2 Jacksonville, as the Icemen scored three straight goals to close out the second period.
Both Cockerill goals in the second period were assisted by Brendan Harris, who stayed red hot on Saturday night. Harris scored the game’s first goal at 4:16 of the opening period, giving him three points in the contest. He has now scored 10 points in his last 10 games, with four goals and six assists.
Noah Laaouan recorded three assists in the game – one on the Harris score, another on Cockerill’s final goal and the last on Jonathan Hampton’s second goal of the season to put the Icemen up 7-2 in the third period.
Jacksonville finished off the game with four unanswered goals to defeat Atlanta in dominant fashion.
The Icemen were a force to be reckoned with all night long, forcing a goalie change after the first period. Drew DeRidder was replaced by Ethan Haider after allowing a pair of goals in the opening stanza.
Jacksonville ended up scoring five goals against Haider over the final two periods, cruising to the 7-2 victory.
The Icemen improved to 15-9-2 on the season, claiming 32 points. They will rest for the holidays and suit up on Friday, Dec. 27 to take on South Carolina at home. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
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