JACKSONVILLE, FL – The Jacksonville Icemen saw some good play, but not enough to overcome the Savannah Ghost Pirates, who defeated the Icemen 7-4 in preseason action on Friday night at the Community First Igloo. Colby Ambrosio, Jacques Bouquot, Bennett MacArthur, and Brandon Yeamans all had goals for the Icemen.
FIRST PERIOD
Jacksonville came out strong in the first period. Still, Savanah took the lead at 7:3d. Jacksonville was outshot 15-9 in the first period as the Ghost Pirates pinned the Icemen in their zone for long stretches. Still, Jacksonville showed promise offensively using their speed to set up several quality scoring chances.
SECOND PERIOD
The scoring opened up in the second period with eight total goals coming in the middle period. It started just over three minutes into the period when Colby Ambrosio intercepted a pass in the high slot and rifled a shot into the back of the net to tie the game 1-1. But then, back-to-back goals by the Ghost Pirates (one off a turnover, the other off a man advantage) put Savannah back in front 3-1 in less than a minute. Jacksonville struck back 15 seconds later on their first power play when Jacques Bouquot deflected a point shot from Trevor Griebel on the left side to pull within one. Savannah responded midway through the period to re-establish their two-goal lead, but Jacksonville answered. Down 4-2, Bennett MacArthur got a deflection off a Jaden Condotta blue-line shot to once again get the Icemen within one. But late in the second, back-to-back goals by the Ghost Pirates just over two minutes apart (one on the power play, the other at even strength) put Jacksonville in a 6-3 hole heading into the third.
THIRD PERIOD
After a back-and-forth opening five minutes, Jacksonville struck back to cut the lead to two. Ashton Stockie sent a lead pass to Brandon Yeamans, who took the puck out of his own zone and turned it into a two-on-one rush. Yeamans entered the offensive zone and head-faked to fool the defenseman and the Savannah netminder into thinking he was going to pass. Instead, he fired a low, hard shot in short side past netminder Tyler Muszelik to make it 6-4. For a time, the Icemen carried momentum, though they failed to capitalize on a follow-up power play. Instead, Savannah finished with Liam McLinskey’s third goal to cap a 7-4 effort.
The Icemen will prepare for their opening night on Friday, October 16, before heading up to Savannah to face the Ghost Pirates on Saturday, October 17. Face-off for both games is set for 7:00 pm.
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