Icemen Tame Knight Monsters in Tahoe, 4-3 in OT
By Mike Bonts
STATELINE,
NV – The
Jacksonville Icemen spoiled the first ECHL game at the Tahoe Blue Event Center
for the Tahoe Knight Monsters with a 4-3 overtime victory Thursday night.
Brendan
Harris scored his second goal of the night in the overtime session. Zach Jordan
got the assist. The Icemen found themselves in overtime for the second straight
game.
Goaltender
Matt Vernon picked up the win with 36 saves. Jesper Vikman took the loss while
stopping 20 shots.
The Knight
Monsters recorded their first power play goal in the final two and a half minutes
of the third to tie the game 3-3. With Garrett Van Wyhe in the box for hooking, Simon Pinard knotted
the score, sending the game into overtime.
Before Pinard’s
goal Tahoe was 0 for 6 with a man advantage. Brennan Kapcheck and Sloan Stanick
were credited with assists.
Four minutes
earlier, Kapcheck’s goal at 13:41 set up by Jett Jones and Chris Dodero made it
3-2.
Jacksonville
took a two-goal advantage into the final stanza.
Harris gave the
Icemen their first lead of the night 7:43 into the second period. Logan Cockerill
and Robert Calisti assisted on the goal
Jordan increased
the lead at the 10:31mark of period with Jacksonville’s second power play goal
of the game aided by captain Christopher Brown and Calisti.
Calisti
leads all Icemen defensemen with three assists this season.
The first period
ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Knight
Monsters opened the scoring. Artur Cholach made the ECHL history books scoring
the expansion franchise’s first goal. Jake McGrew picked up the assist.
With Cal
Kiefiuk sitting out for hooking, Cockerill tied the contest with his third goal
of the season. Brown and Jordan picked up the helpers.
Tahoe out
shot Jacksonville 14-6 in the first period.
The two
clubs meet again on Friday night.
GAME
NOTES: Tahoe outshot
Jacksonville 39-24, Brandon Mashinter celebrated his first victory as
Jacksonville head coach, Icemen defenseman Connor Russell came off the injured
list to see his first action of the season, Jacksonville was 2 for 3 on the power
play, attendance was 4,203, two referees worked the game as part of new ECHL
rules this season increasing the number of games using two refs.
