Everblades Fall to Greenville in Overtime 6-5

GREENVILLE, SC – Brendan Connolly’s goal with 20 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Greenville Road Warriors to a 6-5 victory over the Florida Everblades Thursday night at the Bi-Lo Center.

It took just 38 seconds for the Road Warriors to light the lamp. Francis Verrerault centered a pass from behind the net to Brendan Connolly who crashed the net. Connolly fielded the pass at the top of the crease and tapped it past Everblades goaltender John Muse to give Greenville the early 1-0 advantage.

After several big hits, and two fights, the Everblades settled down and tied the game at one at 8.42 of the period. Alex Hutchings fired a puck on goal which was stopped by Greenville netminder Nathan Lieuwen. The rebound hopped to the stick of Brandon MacLean who hurled the puck high into the net for the goal.

Florida took the lead on their first power play opportunity of the night. Taylor Ellington skated the puck through the slot and slid a pass to the left wing circle to Matt Beca. Beca grabbed the puck and lifted the puck high into the net past an outstretched Lieuwen for the goal to take a 2-1 lead.

Florida scored on its second power play chance. The Everblades won the faceoff in the offensive zone to start the power play. The puck was directed to the Ellington at the point who ripped a slapshot past Lieuwen to extend the ‘Blades lead to 3-1 at the end of the first period.

In the second the Road Warriors received a power play goal of their own, as Shayne Wiebe one-timed a shot past Muse just 1:20 into the second period to pull with one.

Moments later, the Everblades scored on their third power attempt. Matt Beca steered the puck to the top of the crease to Mathieu Roy, who redirected the puck to into the net to extend lead 4-2 after two periods played.

Greenville started the third period with Wiebe’s second goal of the night to pull the Road Warriors within one.

Florida Countered with a shorthanded goal by Brandon MacLean at 6:15 of the period. Aaron Bogosian skated the puck into the zone and dropped the puck to a wide open MacLean in the slot. MacLean fired a shot, and then picked up his own rebound and hurled the puck into the net on the backhand to score the goal. The goal marked the third two-goal lead for Florida in the game.

The Road Warriors chipped away at the ‘Blades lead, receiving goals from Brandon Wong and Jeremy Gouchie who tied the game at five at 14:49 of the third. The two teams skated it out to a regulation tie forcing overtime. In overtime, former Everblade Sebastien Piche lobbed a cross-ice feed to an open Connolly, who fried a wrist shot over the shoulder of Muse for the goal, to seal the 6-5 win for Greenville with just 20 seconds remaining in overtime.

The Blades will battle the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday at the North Charleston Coliseum beginning at 7:00 p.m. Florida’s next home game is on Friday, November 30 against Greenville. Don’t forget December 1st is the annual Teddy Bear Toss game. Bring a stuffed animal to throw onto the ice after the Blades score their first goal.

The Capital Bank Box Office is open Monday thru Friday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Fans may also call Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000, or order online atwww.ticketmaster.com

Season ticket packages are currently available, for the remaining 28 home games. Partial-season packages start as low as $150, and offer a flexible option for fans. For more information on all available packages, call the Everblades office at 239-948-7825, or purchase tickets online.