JACKSONVILLE, FLA – Thursday night at the Veterans Memorial Arena, the Jacksonville Icemen and Atlanta Gladiators took to the ice in a battle for a tie for the top spot in the ECHL’s South division. When the ice chips settled, it was the host Icemen who remained unbeaten with a 3-2 win in overtime.
Things got off to a quick start for Jacksonville (3-0-0-0) when Garret Cockerill scored just 3:55 into the opening frame. Assists on the score came from Wacey Rabbit and Alexis D’Aoust.
The Gladiators (2-2-1-0) stayed patient and evened the score on the power play 13:46 into the middle frame when Nolan LaPorte and Ben Danford helped set up Justin MacDonald for a man advantage tally. However, before the end of the period, the Icemen struck back when Dajon Mingo set up Rabbit for a short-handed score to give the home team a 2-1 lead after two.
Atlanta fought hard and once again drew even when Jesse Gabrielle found the back of the net with 2:27 left in regulation off assists from Zach Malatesta and Derek Nesbitt.
In overtime, Cody Fowlie played the hero as he scored 1:48 in for his third goal in as many games. Kris Newbury and Trey Phillips picked up the helpers to keep the Icemen’s record perfect.
Jacksonville goalie Mikhail Berdin once again starred, making 36 saves to post the win while his counterpart, Atlanta netminder Sean Bonar, stopped 23 in a losing effort.
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