ESTERO, Fla. – One night after locking up the South Division’s third seed in the upcoming 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs, the Florida Everblades closed out the regular season with a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind shootout win over the South Carolina Stingrays in front of a standing-room only crowd of 7,423 fans Saturday night at Hertz Arena.
The victory was the sixth straight win for the Everblades, the team’s longest winning streak of the season.
Shortly after Sean Josling forced overtime by scoring with 1:47 left in regulation, Josling and Oliver Chau both found twine in the shootout for the Everblades. Florida goaltender Evan Cormier was nothing short of sensational in his first start since March 23. Cormier registered 42 saves over 67 minutes of action, while also making two huge stops in the shootout.
Offense was hard to come by for the majority of the first period, but Jack Adams gave South Carolina a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the opening stanza.
Bobo Carpenter wasted little time tying the score at 1-1 just 1:40 into the second period. Carpenter’s team-high 28th goal of the season came just 37 seconds into the Everblades’ first power-play shift of the night. Chau picked up his team-leading 34th assist of the season, while the red-hot Josh Ho-Sang collected his first assist of the night.
Unfortunately, Garet Hunt regained the lead for South Carolina at the 4:05 mark, as the Stingrays went back on top, 2-1, taking a one-goal lead into the final period.
Just 2:44 into the third period, Zach Berzolla notched the Everblades’ second power-play goal of the night – and his second man-up goal of the year – to level the score at 2-2. Ho-Sang picked up his second helper of the game – his 13th in 11 games – ‘while Josling also had an assist.
South Carolina’s Kevin O’Neil scored a power-play goal at the 11:46 mark to give the Stingrays a 3-2 lead, but Josling scored the Everblades’ third equalizer of the night, his 22th goal of the year burying a blast from the last point at 18:13 to knot the game at 3-3 and force overtime. Todd Skirving and Jordan Sambrook picked up the helpers.
Despite late rushes by both team in the final minute of the seven-minute overtime period, neither team could snap the deadlock, sending the final regular-season game to a three-round shootout.
Josling opened the shootout with a goal, while South Carolina’s evened things with a goal by Jonny Evans in the second round. After Chau found the net in the third round, Cormier denied Austin Magera to seal the win for the Everblades.
Next up for the Everblades is the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Lexus, as the Blades launch their unprecedented quest for a third straight Kelly Cup in the upcoming South Division Semifinals. The Blades will host the first of three potential home games in the series on Wednesday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information on the Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Lexus and to purchase tickets.
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