Dominick Mersch game-winner lifts Jacksonville Icemen past Cincinnati Cyclones
Turning point: Dominick Mersch scored the go-ahead goal at 13:30 of the third period, firing the Jacksonville Icemen past the host Cincinnati Cyclones to end 2023 with Sunday's 5-4 ECHL victory.
Three stars: 1. Mersch, Jacksonville (one goal, one assist). 2. Chris Grando, Jacksonville (one goal, one assist). 3. Connor Russell, Jacksonville (one assist).
Penalty box: Cincinnati's Lee Lapid tied the score 4-4 on the power play in the third period, the only special-teams score in a game with only five penalties.
Around the rink: The Icemen's Nick Luukko earned his 100th career victory in coaching. ... Goalie Michael Houser stopped 27 shots for the Icemen (16-10-3-0). ... Cincinnati (14-14-1-0) raced to a 3-1 second-period lead before Jacksonville struck back on goals by Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Grando and Craig Martin. ... Adam Samuelsson also scored in the second period for the Icemen.
Up next: The Icemen return to the Sunshine State for a 7 p.m. Wednesday game at the Orlando Solar Bears inside the Kia Center, which was renamed from the Amway Center on Dec. 20.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Icemen-Cincinnati Cyclones: ECHL report, December 31
