ESTERO, Fla. – On the strength of three second-period goals, the Jacksonville Icemen claimed a 5-0 victory over the Florida Everblades in Game Four of the South Division Semifinals Friday night at Hertz Arena in front of 6,180 fans. Jacksonville holds a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The ECHL’s top two defenses lived up to the billing in the first period, as the Everblades and Icemen put up zeroes over the opening 20 minutes of Game Four. Blades netminder Cam Johnson turned aside all six shots he faced in the opening frame, while Jacksonville’s Matt Vernon was tested by the home team, stopping all nine Florida shots.
Fortunes changed for the visitors in the middle period, as Jacksonville scored three goals in a 4:11 span to take a 3-0 lead. Matheson Iacopelli struck first with an unassisted goal at 7:08, while Damien Geroux followed at the 9:36 mark, and Olivier Nadeau capped off the offensive outburst with a power-play goal at 11:19. 
For Jacksonville in the third period, Christopher Brown added a goal at 8:15, while Ryan Scarfo scored an empty net goal at 16:20 to close out the scoring.
Despite the Everblades outshooting Jacksonville 13-9 in the third period, the Icemen claimed a 32-31 shooting advantage in the game.
The series continues at Hertz Arena with a critical Game Five matchup slated for Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., before shifting back to Jacksonville for Game Six Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information on the Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Lexus and to purchase tickets.
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