Noah Epstein

READING, PA -- After allowing three straight goals from the Royals in the second period, the Jacksonville Icemen scored a trio of goals consecutively themselves to come back and beat Reading 5-4 in a shootout on Friday night.

The Icemen went down 4-1 in the second after Matt Brown (9), Tyson Kirkby (1) and Ryan Leibold (7) all took advantage of puck possession in Jacksonville territory to score on Matt Vernon.

Brown’s goal to give Reading the lead was his second of the game. He then assisted Leibold’s goal, which gave him three points on the evening.

Olivier Nadeau, who scored Jacksonville’s first goal of the game in the opening period, was able to turn the tide for the contest after cleaning up a Peter Tischke shot to make it a 4-2 deficit 13:01 into the period.

The Icemen went on the game’s first power play a few minutes later when Robbie Stucker was assessed a delay of game penalty.

Jacksonville was able to strike on the man advantage, with Logan Cockerill firing a slap shot from the right faceoff circle and Liam Coughlin getting the rebound and putting the puck in the back of the net. There were a plethora of white jerseys near the crease, and Coughlin’s stick made it a one-goal game toward the end of the second.

The Icemen tied the game in the third period, on a Robert Calisti slap shot from the left circle while on a breakaway. 

Jacksonville had answered Reading’s offensive explosion with three straight goals of its own. This didn’t only reflect on the goals stat line, but also when it came to shots on goal. The Icemen tallied 33 shots in the second and third periods combined, compared to Reading’s 17.

But that wasn’t the case in overtime.

The Royals possessed the puck far more than the Icemen did in the overtime period, ending with six shots to the Icemen’s zero. Reading went on its first man advantage of the game just over two minutes into the stanza. While Reading had plenty of chances, the Jacksonville defense and Vernon stood tall to force a shootout.

Cockerill was the first skater to attempt a shot. He was also the lone goal scorer during the shootout period. Cockerill started toward his right, went through the circle and maneuvered to the low slot while dragging the puck through the 5-hole of Ty Taylor, who was making his season debut for the Royals.

The game ended when Brown, who had two goals in the game, faced off against Vernon. Brown couldn’t get great positioning, trying to force the puck near the side of the net unsuccessfully.

Vernon helped the Icemen finish off the 5-4 victory, as the goalie improved to 9-0-1 in his last 10 appearances.

Jacksonville now has 47 points on the season, remaining in second place in the South. The Icemen play in Reading again on Saturday night, with puck drop at 7 p.m.