WORCESTER, MA – Friday night in Worcester, the Jacksonville Icemen (10-22-3-2 25 points) and Worcester Railers (15-16-3-2 35 points) faced off in their only scheduled regular season game of the season.
Jacksonville started Austin Lotz (5-5-1-1) in net while Worcester went with Mitch Gillam (8-7-3-2). The game also featured the 600th career ECHL for Icemen captain Garet Hunt, placing him 8th on the all time ECHL list of games played.
Jacksonville got on the board first in the game when Kyle Shapiro skated tight into the crease and passed to Josh Erickson right in front of Gillam. Erickson then scored his 5th of the season, flicking it over Gillam and just under the crossbar. The second assist was awarded to Jansen Harkins. The goal came at the 5:06 mark of the first period.
At the 13:47 mark of the period, Worcester tied the game on the power play on Woody Hudson’s team leading 13th goal of the season. Assists were awarded to Matthew Gaudreau and Brock Beukeboom.
At 15:30 of the frame, Jacksonville took the lead back, also on the power play when Everett Clark recorded his 7th of the season. In front of the net, Clark was able to backhand a rebound shot past Gillam low to his glove side. The only assist was award to Scott Savage. That is where the first period end, with Jacksonville leading 2-1.
Jacksonville outshot Worcester in the first 11-6. Jacksonville had six minutes in penalties, Worcester four.
At 59 seconds of the second period, Worcester tied the game when Barry Almieda recorded his 11th of the season, with Hudson receiving the only assist.
The “your turn, now my turn” nature of the scoring of the game continued when, at 3:50 of the period, Jacksonville took back the lead when Tanner Eberle broke in alone on Gillam and his wrister beat Gillam high above the blocker. For Eberle, it was his 12th of the season with Tyson Fawcett recording the only assist.
Then it was Worcester’s turn again to score when, at the 5:35 mark, Matt Lane recorded his 4th of the season, off assists from Nick Saracino and Almieda.
Then Jacksonville’s took another turn to score again at the 10:04 mark of the period. Elgin Pierce recorded his 12th of the season when his backhander beat Gillam on the blocker side just inside the post. The assists on the score went to Eberle and Harkins.
The back and forth nature of the scoring ceased when Jacksonville took a two goal lead on an unusual goal by Kyle Shapiro, who recorded his first of the season. Shapiro’s shot from just inside the blue line bounced off the glass behind Millen, then rebounded back over the net, hit Gillam in the back of the leg and went into the net. No assists were awarded on the goal.
Again in the second period, Jacksonville outshot Worcester, this time by a 16-10 count. After two, Jacksonville lead in shots 27-16. No penalties were called in the period.
Worcester changed goalies at the start of the third period, replacing Gillam with Alex Sakellaropoulos.
The change in the goalies worked for the Railers in the third, as the Icemen would not score in the final frame. However, the Icemen defense, lead by Lotz, also prevented the Railers from scoring in the period. The game end with Jacksonville winning 5-3.
Icechips: Worcester would outshot Jacksonville in the third 9-8 but Jacksonville would lead the game in shots 35-35… Only one penalty was called in the third (on Jacksonville) with the Icemen ending the game with eight penalty minutes while the Railers had four… The three stars of the game were 1st: Tanner Eberle (Jacksonville), 2nd: Woody Hudson (Worcester) and 3rd: Kyle Shapiro (Jacksonville)… Attendance for the game was 3,656… Jacksonville continues their road trip Saturday night with the beginning of a two game set with Manchester… Worcester plays game two of an eleven game homestand on Saturday when they host Wheeling in the beginning of a two games in two nights stand with the Nailers.
Contact the author at kenneth.holdren@prohockeynews.com
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