Everblades put on ice by Jacksonville in shootout

ESTERO, FLA -The Florida Everblades suffered a shootout loss for the second time at Hertz Arena this season after coming up short 3-2 on Saturday night against the Jacksonville Icemen.

It took just 6:18 of play for the Everblades to get the raucous Hertz Arena crowd of 6,097 on their feet. Cruising into the offensive zone, Alex Aleardi deflected the puck off a Jacksonville skate and across the goalmouth to put Florida up 1-0. The lone assist went to Levko Koper, who sent in a pass from the neutral zone.

Luke Lynch’s goal evened the game for Jacksonville when he shifted to the far circle and flipped a backhand shot past Everblades goalie Parker Gahagen. The official time for the mark, assisted by Jeff Taylor and Travis Howe, was 18:52 of the first period.

The Icemen took their first lead of the night in the middle stanza when Derek Lodermeier got alone and smoked a shot into the cage from between the circles. It was another late-period strike for Jacksonville with 1:23 remaining. With six seconds until the intermission, Blake Winiecki tied the game for the Everblades, going top-shelf while standing along the near side of the goal line. The conversion marked Winiecki’s ninth consecutive game where he recorded a point.

A scoreless third period led the teams to overtime, where neither goaltender would budge. Lodermeier’s goal in the third round of the shootout secured the 3-2 win for Jacksonville. Winiecki, Aleardi and John McCarron each came up empty handed in the skills competition for the Everblades. The shortcoming puts them at 7-3-1-2 this season while the Icemen now possess an overall record of 5-6-1-1.

The Everblades will head north to Jacksonville next week for a three-game series against the Icemen. The first matchup takes place this Wednesday, November 24th at 7 p.m. The game will be carried on FloSports.TV and ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM and online at https://espnswfl.com.

The next home game for the Everblades will take place on Wednesday, December 1st when the Trois-Rivieres Lions come to town for the first time in history.

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