GREENVILLE, SC – Christopher Brown scored twice, while goaltender Scott Ratzlaff stopped 42 of 44 shots to help guide the Jacksonville Icemen to a 4-2 road win over Greenville Swamp Rabbits at Bons Secours Wellness Arena Friday night.
The Icemen struck first late in the opening period, when rookie Matteo Costantini rushed into the zone on the left wing and ripped a shot cleanly past the Greenville netminder to register his first professional goal give the Icemen a 1-0 lead.
Moments later, Jacksonville’s Nathan Dunkley led a rush into the zone and threaded a perfect pass across the ice on the backside of the net to Aidan Fulp who buried the puck in to make it a 2-0 Icemen edge. Fulp nets a tally in his Icemen debut.
The Icemen carried their momentum in the second, as captain Christopher Brown found himself with a breakaway out of the gates and snapped shot high into the right corner of the Greenville net to give the Icemen a 3-0 lead just 11-second into the middle frame.
Following the early, tally Greenville took control of the period, scoring two goal to mount a comeback bid in a tally at the three-minute mark by Austin Saint, and a second marker eight minutes later from Josh Atkinson to make it a 3-2 count.
That score held until 2:52 of the third when Bennett MacArthur won a puck battle behind the net and from his knees delivered a pass to Christopher Brown in front to net his second strike of the game for the Icemen insurance marker.
Greenville continued to pepper the Icemen net with shots, but rookie goaltender Scott Ratzlaff would turn aside 42 of 44 shots to secure the 4-2 Icemen victory. The Icemen were outshot 44-16 in the contest.
The undefeated Icemen (3-0-0) will face Savannah on Saturday at Enmarket Arena at 7 pm. The Icemen’s home opener is set for November 7 & 8.
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