HOLWAY’S OVERTIME BLAST TOPS GREENVILLE

ESTERO, Fla. – Patrick Holway’s second goal of the game with 56.4 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the 

Florida Everblades to a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits before a boisterous sellout crowd of 7,435 fans Friday night at Hertz Arena.

A back and forth first period saw the Everblades take a 1-0 lead with just over 2:00 left to play in the frame. Holway unloaded a bullet from the high slot to solve Greenville netminder Luke Richardson at the 17:45 mark for his fifth goal of the campaign and second tally in as many nights. Sean Josling picked up the helper to extend his point streak to four games. 

Just over seven minutes into the second period, Ethan Somoza would bring Greenville even, beating Cormier with his eighth goal of the season to knot the score at 1-1. The deadlock would be short-lived as Zach Tsekos picked up his fifth goal of the year at the 10:13 mark, deflecting in a shot by Cole Moberg to put the Everblades back on top 2-1. Bobo Carpenter also collected an assist.

The Swamp Rabbits would pull even for a second time, this time in the third period, as Somoza recorded his second equalizer of the night 6:50 into the frame, knotting the game at 2-2 and eventually forcing overtime.

Holway’s game winner sealed the Everblades’ first overtime victory of the season – second and handed Greenville its first loss in extra time. Josling assisted on both of Holway’s goals, the first and last markers of the contest. The Blades also have one shootout win to their credit.

Evan Cormier (4-4-1-0) made 32 saves and earned the victory for the Everblades. En route to the win, Cormier logged double-digit saves in each period of regulation. Greenville’s Luke Richardson (2-0-1-0) made 29 saves and suffered the overtime setback.

 

The Everblades and Swamp Rabbits will close out the 2023 calendar year on Sunday with a 6:05 p.m. contest in Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena, the initial stop of a four-game road trip for the Blades. Following the road trip, the Blades will be back in action at Hertz Arena as a three-game set with the Savannah Ghost Pirates gets underway on Wednesday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m. The series will continue on Friday, January 12 and Saturday, January 13 at 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively. 

Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets. 

 

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BLADES BITS

The Everblades struck first for the second time in the series and the fourth time in five games this season against Greenville, the top team in the Eastern Conference by both points and points percentage. Florida improved to 3-1-1-0 versus the Swamp Rabbits this season.

Two Blades extended streaks with Florida’s first-period goal. Patrick Holway scored for the second straight night while also tallying a point for the fifth straight contest (3 G, 3 A). Sean Josling picked up an assist on both of Holway’s goals to run his point streak to four games (3 G, 2 A).

With his second-period goal, Zach Tsekos picked up his first point with the Everblades since November 18, a stretch in which Tsekos did dress for nearly two weeks from December 2 through December 15.

Evan Cormier topped the 30-save plateau for the fifth time and posted double-digit saves in each of the three periods in regulation.

Cam Hausinger’s two-minute tripping minor midway through the third period was the penalty called in regulation during Saturday night’s contest. Entering the 2023-24 season, the ECHL saw only 15 penalty-free games in the league’s 36-year history. Three of those 15 games involved the Everblades (1999, 2016, 2022).

 

Friday Night’s Scoresheet

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