Glads Fall to Monarchs

Playing Manchester for the second game in a row, the Gladiators were hoping to have a victorious Thanksgiving night. The Monarchs would spoil their plans, however, as Atlanta fell 3-2 on Thursday. The Gladiators opened up the scoring on a 3-on-2 rush 13:39 into the first period. Max Everson found Daniel Bahntge coming onto the ice as his penalty expired, who passed it up to Brock Higgs on the right wing side. The forward threw it across the net mouth of the Monarchs goaltender, Colin Stevens, to a waiting Ian Barteaux, who deposited the puck into the net for his first goal as a Gladiator. The helpers are the fifth and sixth assists for Bahntge and Higgs, respectively.Manchester evened the score at one with 2:45 left in the first period. Matt Leitner intercepted a Gladiator clearing attempt in his attacking zone and quickly played it to Zac Larraza who backhanded it past the glove of the Gladiators goaltender, Andy Iles. The goal was the Scottsdale, AZ natives seventh tally while Leitner notched his eleventh helper of the year on the play.The Monarchs took a 2-1 lead with 6:15 left in the second period. Yann Suave muscled a shot from the center point towards goal that ricocheted off a Gladiator skate and redirected in past Iles. The notch was the second of the year for the veteran defenseman while Gaspar Kopitar and Matt White both recorded assists on the play.The Gladiators tied the game at two apiece 30 seconds into the third period off a Derrick Nesbit slap shot from the left point. The goal marked the ninth goal of the season for the Seaforth, Ontario native. Everson was credited with his fourth assist on the year on the captain’s equalizer.Manchester took advantage of their second powerplay opportunity of the evening as David Kolomatis drilled a shot past the stick of Iles for a 3-2 lead. The Monarchs went ahead with 11:41 left in the third period on the goal that marked the New Jersey natives fourth tally of the season. Suave and White were both credited with the helpers and their second points of the game. Atlanta was unable to tie the game down the stretch giving Manchester the 3-2 victory. In the defeat, the Gladiators remained at 19 points on the season with a record 9-7-1-0. The Monarchs jumped over Atlanta in the standings improving to 20 points on the campaign and increasing their record to 10-7-0. Photo Credit: Lindsay Hartmann