JACKSONVILLE, FLA – Over the last week or so, the Jacksonville Icemen and the South Carolina Stingrays have gotten to know each other quite well. On Wednesday, December 29th, the divisional rivals met for the fourth straight game, this time at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. When the ice chips settled, the result was the same as the last three contests as the Icemen came away with a 6-2 victory for the team’s ninth consecutive triumph.
After exchanging pleasantries during the pregame warmup – leftovers from Sunday’s clash in North Charleston – the Icemen jumped out to a two goal lead before the first period was half over. At the 2:47 mark, Luke Lynch took a feed off the side boards and skated toward the back of the net. He somehow managed to get the puck to the front where Travis Howe, known more for his physical play than scoring, rammed it past South Carolina goalie Cedrick Andree for his first goal of the season.
Just before the midpoint of the frame, Jacksonville’s Nick Ford took the puck off the boards and fed Derek Lodermeier at the top of the right faceoff circle. Lodermeier proceeded to laser a shot over Andree’s shoulder for his fifth of the season, giving the home team a 2-0 lead.
The lead grew to 3-0 early in the second when Craig Martin continued his hot scoring tough with a power play goal. Martin got the puck at the blue line and banked a hard slap shot off of a Stingrays defender and in for his 12th of the season.
South Carolina finally answered when Dominic Sacco converted an Icemen turnover into a shot that eluded goalie Charles Williams over his right shoulder. The tally was Sacco’s fourth of the year.
Before the middle stanza ended, Jacksonville bumped its lead back to three goals. At the 13:34 mark, Jacob Pinetta led a charge into the South Carolina end. He slipped a pass to newly signed Bauer Neudecker, who went in alone and scored a pretty top shelf goal for his first in his first game with the Icemen.
The Stingrays pulled within 4-2 halfway through the final period when Carter Cowlthorp turned a defensive misplay into his sixth of the season. Cowlthorp went hard for a loose puck and from the base of the left circle fired the biscuit between Williams’ legs for the tally.
That was as close as the visitors got. Abbott Girduckis netted his seventh at 10:39, grabbing a loose puck, splitting two defenders and scoring from close in to again restore Jacksonville’s three goal lead. Ben Hawerchuk closed the scoring with an empty net tally for his sixth goal of the season at 16:31, sending the fans home happy.
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