The Jacksonville Bullies foiled the Charlotte Copperheads home opener celebration Saturday night by beating Charlotte by a 12-9 score. The Bullies big guns stepped up to the plate, helping the team to their first ever franchise victory.
Charlotte started off the games scoring a little over four minutes into the game thanks to Nick Cotter, but Jacksonville started to get on a roll afterwards. Elliot Bender kicked off a three goal run for the Bullies, which also featured goals from Kiel Matisz and Wade Bucktooth. However Charlotte did not let the momentum get the best of them, as they had a run of their own. Thomas Langan, Matt Hickman, and Ethan Farrell all had shots make it past Bullies goaltender Spencer Lyons. The high scoring first quarter ended with one more goal from the Bullies to tie the game at four.
The second quarter was the time for Jacksonville to shine, as they scored straight goals against Tory Stephens. Kyle Hartzell had two of the goals while Tom Compitello, Wade Bucktooth, and Shawn Wilkins scored the other three. Jacksonville held Charlotte entirely off the board to take a nine to four lead at the half.
Charlotte began mounting their comeback in the third quarter, but it was too little too late for Tom Ryan’s team. The Copperheads scored five of the seven goals in the quarter to tighten the lead to three. Hickman, who was the PLL Player of the Week last week, lead the way with four goals in the run. Both teams held the other off the scoreboard in the last frame as the game ended with a 12-9 victory for the away Bullies.
Leading the Bullies in points was Matisz with one goal and six assists and Wilkins who had three goals and four assists. Hartzell and Wade Bucktooth each scored four points while Compitello and Bender each had two. Lyons had 41 saves on 50 shots on the night in his first victory.
Once again leading Charlotte was Matt Hickman who had six points. Kevin Iwanusa made his presence felt with five points while Greg Rogowski and Farrell each had three. Tory Stephens made 31 saves on 43 shots in a losing effort.
Next week the 1-1 Jacksonville Bullies host the Reading Rockets, making their PLL debut. Reading announced their opening roster on Saturday night. Charlotte next plays on October 6th against a team that is not yet announced.
