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| (Sports Day photo by Jim Brady/Florida Sports Wire) |
The Stingrays’ power play converted on their second opportunity of the day as Carter Turnbull gave the Stingrays an early lead in the contest. Jacksonville’s Parker Gahagen kicked Andrew Cherniwchan’s pass to the tape of Turnbull where the rookie forward flipped the rebound into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the year.
Jacksonville retaliated under four minutes later with Brendan Harris’ first marker of the season. South Carolina blocked an initial shot that settled in front of Harris where the forward sent a puck top shelf past Clay Stevenson to tie the game at one apiece.
Luke Martin gave the Icemen their first lead of the game with his first goal of the season 40 seconds later. The blueliner fired a shot from the point that beat Stevenson’s blocker for the 2-1 advantage.
South Carolina knotted the game at two with just under five minutes remaining in the opening period on Turnbull’s second of the match. Ryan Scarfo won a faceoff knocking the puck directly to Turnbull who wasted no time and sniped a shot past Gahagen.
Ara Nazarian’s second tally of the season regained the Jacksonville lead five and a half minutes into the middle frame. Nazarian received a pass with his back to the net where the forward slid a backhanded shot through the five-hole of the Stingrays' netminder for the 3-2 lead.
The Stingrays returned the favor under three and a half minutes later with Josh Wilkins’ third goal of the season. Wilkins set up on the left post where he cleaned up an initial shot from Jonny Evans to tie the game yet again.
The Icemen struck back on Martin’s second marker of the day just over halfway through the contest. Martin fired a shot from the point through traffic and past a screened netminder for the 4-3 lead at 11:10 of the second period.
Jacksonville took advantage of a missed opportunity from South Carolina as Harris slid a pass to Nazarian on the doorstep for his second goal of the contest. Nazarian’s insurance goal expanded the Icemen lead to two and proved to be just enough for the win.
With time winding down, the Stingrays pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker which paid off on Bear Hughes’ fourth goal in the last two games. Hughes set up in the slot and received a perfect pass from Evans to cut the deficit back to one before time ran out.