A pair of goaltenders led the sixth-seeded Jacksonville Barracudas to a 3-1 series victory over Commissioner Cup-winning Columbus Cottonmouths.

The upset was truly unexpected as no Jacksonville player had won an individual award or was named to the league all-star team this year, while Columbus had several, including 2006-07 SPHL Goaltender of the Year, Chad Rycroft.

The upset was ushered in by netminder Ryan Person, who had an excellent series in goal, and goaltender-turned- forward Tyrone Garner, who currently leads the SPHL playoffs with five goals, including a game-winning goal in overtime in Game 2 and the series-winning goal on Tuesday night during Game 4 in Jacksonville.

Playoff success comes as nothing new for Garner, the co-MVP of the 2001-02 ECHL playoffs with former-NHLer Simon Gamache. Garner helped lead current Fayetteville coach John Marks and the Greenville Grrrowl to the ECHL championship that year.

Person’s success has been exceptional in that he had not appeared in a professional playoff hockey game until he took the ice for Game 1of the series on March 29 in Columbus.

Despite the low expectations placed on the Barracudas, they defeated a Columbus team which did not play all that poorly in the post season. But Jacksonville was the aggressor in the series and went after the Cottonmouths from the drop of the opening face off in Game 1 to the final whistle of Game 4.
The upset can definitely be attributed more to the Barracudas fine play rather than any missteps made by Columbus.