Icemen Haunt Ghost Pirates with Four-Goal Second Period

Written by Jasen Mata

Final Score: [Jacksonville Icemen] [7] - [2] [Savannah Ghost Pirates] 
When: Friday, January 31^st , 2025 @ 7:00 P.M. EST
Where: [VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena] – [Jacksonville, Florida] 

1st Period: Retro night at VyStar Arena saw the Icemen and Ghost Pirates face for a Friday Night divisional showdown. It’s always an intense matchup when these division rivals square off and tonight was no different. The first period of play would start rather slowly as both teams struggled to find their footing offensively. Both teams exchanged multiple shots on goal and remained physical on the walls but neither side would budge on the scoreboard for most of the period. Jacksonville did their best to stay aggressive and spent much of their time on Savanah’s side of the ice, putting constant pressure on The Ghost Pirates.

Despite their aggressiveness and multiple power play opportunities, Jacksonville was initially unable to score. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the first period that the Icemen would strike with their first goal of the night. After receiving a rebound assist from Connor Russell, Garrett Van Wyhe would score a short-hand goal for the Icemen and put Jacksonville up 1-0. The Icemen shut out the Ghost Pirates and ended the first period ahead.

Period Scoring Summary: 

End of 1^st Period Score: [Jacksonville Icemen] [1] – [0] [Savannah Ghost Pirates]
JAX: [Garrett Van Wyhe] (Assist : [Connor Russell, Chris Grando]) – [14:11]
SAV: Did Not Score

2nd Period: Jacksonville wasted no time in the second period as The Icemen came out swinging and swinging hard. It wasn’t long until Jacksonville got into the scoring column. That’s all the Icemen did in the first five minutes of the second period. Two minutes into the period Brayden Hislop would score his third goal of the season. Three minutes later Liam Coughlin and Chris Grando would get in on the action as they would both score goals just seconds apart from each other, putting the Icemen up 4-0.

The best word to describe the Ghost Pirates would be flustered. The Ghost Pirates had little to no momentum and misfired on my shots throughout the period. Despite this misfortune, the ghost Pirates would eventually find their way to the Icemen's goal. Ross Armour would scored goal for Savannah. However, Derek Lodermeier quickly answer back and score the fourth Icemen goal of the period. Jacksonville finished off an aggressive and impressive second period of play with a 5-1 lead over The Savannah Ghost Pirates.

Period Scoring Summary:

End of  2^nd Period Score: [Jacksonville Icemen] [5] – [1] [Savannah Ghost Pirates]

JAX: [Brayden Hislop] (Assist: [Garrett Van Wyhe, Olivier Nadeau]) – [2:25]

JAX: [Liam Coughlin] (Assist: [Bennett MacArthur, Carter Allen]) – [5:12]

JAX: [Chris Grando] (Assist: [Olivier Nadeau, Peter Tischke]) – [5:30]

JAX: [Derek Lodermeier] (Assist: [Peter Tischke, Noah Laaouan]) – [13:04]

SAV: [Ross Armour] (Assist: [Will Riedell]) – [12:41]

3rd Period: Savannah showed signs of life early in the third period and scored their second goal of the night. Liam Walsh got the best of Matt Vernon, making the score 5-2 early on. Any excitement for Savannah was ultimately short-lived as it wasn’t long before the Icemen would come along and steal the momentum back. Carter Allen would be next up to score for the Icemen as he hit yet another short-hand goal. This would be Allen’s first goal of the year and Jacksonville’s sixth of the night. The score would be 6-2 at this point in the period.

Jacksonville looked extremely well-rounded during this period as they kept constant pressure on Savannah. Savannah showed glimpses of momentum, but it was never enough to truly get The Ghost Pirates going. Sometimes it’s just not your night, and tonight was not the Ghost Pirate’s night, they simply could not keep up with The Icemen. The Icemen would score a seventh goal late into the third period, this time it was Brody Crane. As a result, the Icemen would defeat The Savannah Ghost Pirates with a final score of 7-2.

Period Scoring Summary: 

End of 3^rd Period Score: [Jacksonville Icemen] [7] – [2] [Savannah Ghost Pirates]

JAX: [Carter Allen] (Assist: [Brody Crane, Garrett Van Wyhe]) – [5:35]

JAX: [Brody Crane] (Assist: [Ty Cheveldayoff, Derek Lodermeier]) – [5:35]

SAV: [Liam Walsh] Assist: [Dennis Cesana, Reece Vitelli]) – [0:38]

Next Game:

The Jacksonville Icemen looked great Friday Night as they defeated their ghostly rivals from Savannah. Tomorrow, The Icemen will head up to Savannah and are hoping to take tonight’s momentum with them. Jacksonville will look to finish off Retro Weekend with a bang as they take on The Ghost Pirates once more on Saturday Night. Next week, The Icemen will have three home games with game themes consisting of School Day on Tuesday, and Cancer Awareness, and Pucks & Paws next weekend.