GREENVILLE, S.C. –  The Greenville Swamp Rabbits pulled within one after trailing 3-0 early to the Jacksonville Icemen, but fell short by a 4-3 count on Saturday night.

The Icemen scored three times in the first period to open the scoring, including two tallies only 30 seconds apart. At 8:30, Ara Nazarian creeped into the low-slot and buried a feed from Derek Lodermeier past Swamp Rabbits goaltender Jacob Ingham. Jacksonville captain Wacey Rabbit capitalized 30 seconds later on a quick trigger pull high-glove side on Ingham. Rabbit added his second goal of the evening at 14:47 on the power play to open a 3-0 cushion. Shots after 20 minutes were 8-6 Icemen.

Late in the second period, Greenville counter punched with two quick goals separated by only 64 seconds to pull within one. Kamerin Nault at the net front poked home a Joey Haddad rebound later deemed a good goal after video review. Shortly after, Haddad redirected a bid from Samuel Jardine from the point past Icemen goaltender Eamon McAdam.

Jacksonville grabbed a key insurance tally in the third period which later proved to be the game-winner. In his Icemen debut, Nick Saracino scored on the rebound of a Jason Binkley shot past Ingham to restore his club’s two-goal cushion.

The Swamp Rabbits answered back with a power play goal of their own at 11:22, courtesy of Mike McNamee’s first of the season. Haddad completed a three-point night earning the primary helper with McNamee burying Haddad’s rebound.

Final shots on goal totaled 30-17 in favor of the Swamp Rabbits. Greenville’s special teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.

Greenville is slated to open the home portion of their regular season schedule on December 18 against the Florida Everblades. Tickets are available here.

Join us for “Heroes of the Upstate,” where we honor those who have courageously served the Upstate community during the on-going fight against COVID-19. To nominate your hero, click here.

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ABOUT US

Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team have been providing family friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are proud affiliates of the NHL’s Florida Panthers and AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League. Since the conclusion of the 2019-20 NHL Season, 678 former ECHL players have debuted in the NHL. Nine former Greenville Road Warriors/Swamp Rabbits have later made their NHL debut