After last night’s loss to Greenville on the road, the Gladiators were looking for some home ice redemption as they faced the Swamp Rabbits for the second time for a Sunday afternoon game. The Atlanta Gladiators had their starting lineup set with Zack Yoder, Griffin Luce, Jackson Pierson, Reece Vitelli, and Micah Miller. Tyler Harmon and Mitch Fossier both remained on IR.
Greenville’s starting lineup consisted of Joe Leahy, Brett Kemp, Josh McKechney, Jake Stevens, and Anthony Beauchamp.
Minding the Net:
- Atlanta – Brad Barone
- Greenville – Jacob Ingham
Period 1
Marchesan nearly scores on the rebound, but Ingham makes a crucial save. Stevens stands strong in defense against Burke’s attack. Barone is caught off guard as Brett Kemp capitalizes on Atlanta’s turnover (3:59), putting the Swamp Rabbits in the lead 1-0. Atlanta’s Brendan Hoffman receives a double minor for high sticking, granting the Swamp Rabbits a power play. Bones makes a skate save against Brannon McManus’s shot, followed by another save as Brett Kemp takes a shot that Barone blocks. The Gladiators struggle to break out of their zone until the puck goes wide and out of play.
Reece Vitelli has a breakaway opportunity and skillfully moves the puck in front of the net, but narrowly misses the shot. In a subsequent play, Vitelli seizes another breakaway chance while short-handed, deftly navigating in front of the net, but misses scoring a goal.
Nolan Burke has a breakaway opportunity but misses his shot to the left side of the net. The Gladiators are now back at full strength, battling to push the Swamp Rabbits out of their zone. Vitelli takes another shot from the right side through traffic, but the shot misses wide. The Gladiators are now keeping the Swamp Rabbits pinned in their zone. Matier tries to swing around the zone but misses the shot from the circle. The Rabbits seize the puck and move into the Gladiators’ zone, but Barone blocks McManus’s shot. The Gladiators execute a few smooth backhanded passes in the neutral zone to advance the puck toward the Rabbits’ zone.
Later, Vitelli intercepts the puck from a Rabbit player and skates towards the Rabbit’s goal on the ice. Later, Spencer Kennedy delivers a solid check on Max Coyle. Mutter passes the puck, but the Rabbits regain possession and take a shot on goal, only for Barone to make a save. Cohen wins the puck in the face-off and passes it to Yoder, who attempts to clear it, but Greenville’s Jordan Timmons shoots on goal, yet Barone makes yet another save. J.D. Greenway took a shot at the Gladiators, but Barone made another save, preventing the Rabbits from scoring. Ingham also makes a save on the shot by Navrin Mutter. Barone denies the shot as Nikita Pavlychev aims for the net. At the buzzer, Brett Kemp and Jackson Pierson have a tilt, resulting in Pierson getting hit in the head with the stick by the Swamp Rabbit.
Period 1 – Shots on Goal:
Atlanta – 9
Greenville – 20
Period 2
Pierson and Kemp are serving penalties for roughing at the conclusion of the first period. Vitelli passes the puck to Miller, who attempts a shot at the goal. The Swamp Rabbits’ team successfully clears the puck, and Miller gains possession after winning the faceoff. However, the Gladiators lose the puck, and Miller misses the net on his breakaway opportunity. Barone faces heavy traffic in front of him, aiding the Gladiators in defending their crease against the Rabbits.
Robert Calisti takes a shot on the net, but Kemp blocks his attempt. Matier’s shot is blocked, breaking his stick. McManus from Greenville is penalized for high sticking on Matier, granting the Gladiators a power play. Ingham makes a save on Pierson’s shot. The Swamp Rabbits are back at full strength. Soon after, the Gladiators had a player in the penalty box as Matier was penalized for cross-checking. Everly fires a shot on Barone, who blocks it. The Gladiators manage to clear the puck, but Greenville beats them to it. Both teams excelling now in defense, maintaining speed and pressure, and showcased strength in offense on both ends of the ice. Currently, the shots on goal are even at five each. Pavlychev strikes on the Gladiators net, but Barone makes another stunning save, ending the scoring chance of the Swamp Rabbits.
With 6:21 remaining, the Gladiators faced ongoing pressure, and the shot made by Leahy barely missed the goal. It was buzzed in, but the call on the ice was no goal with no review by officials. We remained at 1-0 in favor of Greenville. It is Nolan Burke who puts the Gladiators on the board after his wrist shot hits the back of the net, unassisted (14:19). The score is now level at 1-1.
Carter Souch’s shot on the net missed its target. However, with Freeman’s assistance, Greenville’s Coyle’s shot gets past Barone, and Greenville takes back the lead, making it 2-1 in favor of the Swamp Rabbits (15:10). However, to the dismay of Gladiators’s fans, Greenville’s Josh McKechney slaps the puck past Barone yet again, and Greenville is ahead 3-1 (15:21).
The Gladiators persist, with Matier and Burke having opportunities to score that narrowly miss, preventing the Gladiators from getting back on the scoreboard. The Gladiators get caught again as Ben Freeman feeds the puck right onto the net. (18:26) The Swamp Rabbits lead the Gladiators with a score of 4-1.
Period 2 – Shots on Goal:
Atlanta – 9
Greenville – 13
Period 3
Stevens tried to shoot on Barone’s net, but a Gladiator blocked the attempt. Kennedy takes a shot at the goal, but it goes wide. Ingham manages to make the save. Yoder’s shot looks like it’s going in, but it hits the post instead. Nolan Burke passes the puck to Walinski, only for McManus to intercept and steal it. McManus attempts the shot, but Barone blocks it once more. Mutter later makes a drive towards the net but is swiftly defended by Ingham. Greenville’s Pavlychev is penalized for slashing and is sent to the penalty box, giving the Gladiators the man advantage.
Pierson wins the draw and carries the puck, but it is cleared out of the zone. Vitelli tries a shot, but Ingham blocks it. Mutter checks Grissom, gets pinned against the boards, then takes down Grissom again, resulting in a roughing penalty. The game transitions to 4-on-4 briefly until Pavlychev is released from the penalty box.
With only 4 ½ minutes left, Greenville maintains pressure on the Gladiators. They score their fifth goal as Barone is out of position, leaving the net open, and Greenville’s Ethan Somoza takes advantage at 17:47. The goal was assisted by Joe Leahy and Nikita Pavlychev. The score is now 5-1, Greenville. The Gladiators head to the power play after Jake Stevens from Greenville is penalized for slashing. In the final 10 seconds, Tanner Eberle scores another goal, assisted by Carter Souch, taking advantage as Barone falls out of the crease and he net is undefended. The Swamp Rabbits lead 6-1, and with just seconds left on the clock, the Gladiators have nothing left in the tank and fall 6-1 in regulation.
Period 3 – Shots on Goal:
Atlanta – 7
Greenville – 9
Three Stars:
1. GVL – J. McKechney
2. GVL – T. Eberle
3. GVL – J. Ingham
Takeaways:
- The shot-on-goal comparison between Atlanta and their opponents continues to be an issue for this team. At the end of the game, they only had 25 quality shots on the net to Greenville’s 42.
- Though the score jumped significantly for Greenville in the second period, Brad Barone had some strong saves in the 1st period.
