Turning point: T.J. Friedmann scored the go-ahead goal at 18:48 of the final period and Craig Martincompleted a hat trick seconds later, ending the Jacksonville Icemen’s ECHL season on a note ofcelebration with a 7-5 win over the Orlando Solar Bears on April 19 inside VyStar Veterans MemorialArena.
Three stars: 1. Martin, Jacksonville (three goals). 2. Friedmann, Jacksonville (one goal). 3. Jed Pietila, Jacksonville (one goal, one assist).
Penalty box: In a rarity, the teams combined for only one minor penalty but three double minors.
Around the rink: Martin’s hat trick was the first for the Icemen since Olivier Nadeau on March 6, 2025 against the Allen Americans. … He joins Emerson Clark, Cody Fowlie, Cam Maclise, Pierre-Luc Mercier, Wacey Rabbit, Bobby Lynch, Abbott Girduckis, Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Ara Nazarian, Derek Lodermeier, Matheson Iacopelli, Brendan Harris and Chris Grando as hat-trick scorers in Icemen history. … Icemen goalie Cameron Rowe made 31 saves and David Jankowski tallied three assists. … Adam McMaster and Colby Ambrosio also scored for the Icemen (29-32-8-3), who finish fifth in the ECHL South Division. … Jacksonville built a 5-2 lead midway through the second period before the last-place Solar Bears (29-38-4-1) tied the score on goals by Ethan Szmagaj, Jarid Lukosevicius and Aaron Luchuk. … The Icemen, who recorded 10,176 fans Sunday, again top the ECHL attendance list by a margin of more than 1,000 over second-place Toledo.
Up next: The season is over and the Icemen enter the off-season preparing for the expected start of the 2026-27 campaign in October.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Hat trick! Craig Martin ends Jacksonville Icemen season on winning note
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
