The Greenville Road Warriors nearly swept their two-game series against the Florida Everblades on Friday night. Instead they suffered a 7-6 overtime defeat at the BI-LO Center.
A wide open first period saw the Road Warriors and Everblades trade a pair of goals each and left the game knotted up after 20 minutes. Greenville opened the scoring 9:48 in when Mark Voakes slipped a nifty wrap around past Jaroslav Janus. Blake Parlett picked up his first pro point with one assist and Connor Shields notched the other. Alex Imbeault and Mike Kennedy scored 3:24 apart just minutes later to give Florida its first lead of the night. Voakes answered back, though, by tipping home a Brad Cole point shot at 17:50 of the first with Greenville on the power play.
Voakes had a chance to finish off the hat trick at 2:44 when he was awarded a penalty shot. After killing off a penalty, Greenville’s Chris Chappell drove the net and drew a hooking penalty. In the midst of the scramble a Florida defenseman covered the puck in the crease which gave Greenville the penalty shot. Voakes took the shot but banked it off of the post and the game remained tied. The missed chance didn’t faze the Road Warriors and they were able to out-score Florida 3-1 in the frame to take a 5-3 lead into the intermission. Brendan Connolly jammed home a 5-on-3 power play goal at 9:50, Julien Brouillette slid home his second of the season at 14:38, and Andrew Carroll capped the scoring at 19:15 by banging in a rebound for his first goal of the season. An Imbeault power play goal that beat Nic Riopel at 13:15 briefly tied the game at three before the Road Warriors surged ahead.
The third period, however, belonged to the Everblades. Mathieu Roy’s first score of the season trimmed Greenville’s lead to one with 4:41 gone by in the final period. A breakdown in the neutral zone led to a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush for Florida that Matthew Pistilli converted at 8:13 to tie the game at five. A valiant effort by Marc-Olivier Vallerand gave Greenville the lead back at 12:18. After taking a hard hit in the corner that hobbled him, Vallerand gathered himself, drove to the front of the net and lifted a shot past Janus to give Greenville the lead at 6-5. Imbeault capped off his hat trick with another power play goal at 16:28; the goal that ended up forcing overtime.
Greenville registered the first two shots of the extra frame, but could not find a way to beat Janus and earn the extra point. Bobby Raymond took the only shot in OT for Florida, and it was the only shot that mattered. On a centering pass from Pistilli from the left-wing corner, Raymond blasted a point shot past Riopel and gave Florida the win.
Riopel turned in 26 saves while taking the loss, and Greenville went 2-for-6 on the power play and 5-for-7 on the penalty kill.
Greenville returns to action at the BI-LO Center on Sunday, October 24 against the South Carolina Stingrays at 4:05 p.m. ET. Tickets are available but going fast! If you have a group of 10 or more you can save money on the box office price, receive preferred seating based on availability, and enjoy other great benefits. To contact a Road Warriors group sales representative call 864-674-PUCK. Or visit www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com for more information.
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