Photo: Andrew Fielder for Inside The Rink
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Icemen continued their annual throwback Lizard Kings weekend on Saturday night, facing the Iowa Heartlanders in their first-ever match-up in Jacksonville. The Lizard Kings played in Jacksonville from 1995 to 2000, so for the second night in a row, the Icemen played as the Jacksonville Lizard Kings. The Heartlanders took a 5-1 victory after scoring five unanswered goals during the second and third periods.
The Lizard Kings got off to a flying start, with Nathan Dunkley scoring just 19 seconds into the game, setting a new team record for the fastest goal in a match and stunning the Heartlanders. However, this would be the only goal in the first period and the only goal by Jacksonville, who remained scoreless for the remaining 59 minutes of the game. During the second period, Iowa answered back with Rasmus Kumpulainen redirecting a shot by Anthony Firriolo at the 4:49 mark. Firriolo made it 2-1 with a shorthanded goal on a five-minute major power play for Jacksonville at 9:47. In the third period, Jonny Sorenson’s slap shot made it 3-1 at the 2:09 mark. Former Jacksonville player Liam Coughlin scored an empty net goal at the 17:48 of the game, after the Lizard Kings opted to pull Cameron Rowe from the net for the extra attacker. With Roe back in the net, Iowa’s Matt Sop scored 14 seconds later on a redirected shot from Jack Robilotti, to make it 5-1, to a now dejected Jacksonville team. The two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Andrew Fielder, for highlights from the game.
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Andrew Fielder is our Jacksonville Icemen Photographer and also our Photography Editor for Inside The Rink.
You can also view his latest hockey photos at www.andrewfielderphotography.com