JACKSONVILLE, FLA – On Friday, March 8th, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hopped into the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for game one of a two game set against the host Jacksonville Icemen. It took sixty-five minutes of play and four rounds of shootout action before Jacksonville’s Dajon Mingo netted the winner as the Icemen prevailed by a final of 3-3.
The first period was a scoreless battle of the goalies as Greenville’s Garrett Bartus and Jacksonville’s Ken Appleby matched save for save through a defensive and feisty opening frame. The teams combined for 16 shots on net with the Icemen holding a 9-7 edge while the fans were treated to a late stanza fight between the Swamp Rabbits’ Austen Brassard and the Icemen’s Garet Hunt.
The home team broke the ice on the scoreboard 2:36 into the second period when Cody Fowlie netted his 18th goal of the season off of assists from Christophe Lalancette and Chris Rygus. The Icemen were able to extend their lead late in the period when Kris Newbury and David Broll combined to set up Hunt for his 7th at 17:42.
The Swamp Rabbits dug in and staged a comeback in the third period with a pair of tallies. The first came at the 9:52 mark when Brendan Harms scored his 12th of the year off a feed from Thomas Ebbing. Then with 2:24 left in regulation, Tyler Bird and Dylan Vander Esch geabbed the helpers on Adam Larkin’s 5th to send the teams into overtime.
After a scoreless extra period, Bird gave Greenville a lead in round two of the shootout. Bird’s score was matched by Jacksonville’s Newbury in round three, sending the skills competition to extra frames. In the fourth round, Mingo beat Bartus to put the Icemen ahead before Appleby ended the game by denying the Swamp Rabbits’ Michael Pelech.
Appleby finished the night with 25 saves through overtime and three more in the shootout to grab the victory. Bartus stopped 30 through sixty-five minutes of play and two in the shootout in suffering the loss.
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