Gladiators Fall to Greenville 5-1

Hosting the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at the Duluth IceForum for their final preseason match-up, the Gladiators fell short of capturing a 2nd win with a 5-1 loss on Saturday night.Greenville struck first, scoring on a three-on-one rush with just over 5 minutes remaining in the first period. Trevor Gerling put the Swamp Rabbits on the board after the visitors made a quick breakout of the defensive zone following a shot from Atlanta that rang of the post. The forward’s first of the preseason was assisted by Angelo Miceli, who sent the puck over a diving Gladiators defender right to Gerling’s stick blade for the power play tally.

After Greenville saw ­­­Cody Walsh go to the box for tripping, the Gladiators took advantage of their power play and knotted the game at 1-1, 7:10 into the middle frame. Atlanta Alternate Captain Tyler Murovich put his name on the scoresheet by tapping in a rebound from the back door. The veteran’s first of the preseason was assisted by Justin Buzzeo and Tyler Shiplo, who both took shots on the net before the goal.

The Swamp Rabbits would quickly regain their lead, as Gerling was able to poke the puck off of the stick of the Atlanta defender and then skate it down the ice on a breakaway. The second year pro made two quick moves to the side and slid the puck past Austin Keiser, the Gladiators goaltender, for the 2-1 advantage. Gerling’s second of the night came on the penalty kill, and was unassisted at 13:50 of the second period.

Tyler Brown was the next to find twine, as his power play goal doubled Greenville’s lead, and made the score 3-1 for the visitors. The 6-foot-2 forward was wide open on the five-on-three advantage and Miceli was able to find him for the quick shot. The goal, which came with 14:49 remaining, was Greenville’s second power play goal of the night.

Just over a minute later, the Swamp Rabbits struck again, giving them a decisive 4-1 lead. Peter Gintoli was credited with his second of the preseason after sneaking a rebound past Keiser’s pad. Greenvillle’s third power play tally was assisted by Tyler Elbrecht, and Gerling, who picked up his third point of the night.

Greenville was not done however, as they piled on to their lead and made it 5-1 12:26 into the third. Gerling notched his hat-trick goal after picking up the rebound in front of the net and stuffing it through Keiser. Swamp Rabbits Captain Bretton Cameron tallied his first point of the preseason with an assist on the game’s final goal.

After dropping their preseason finale to Greenville, the Gladiators finished 1-1-0-0 on the two game stint. Meanwhile, Greenville also finished their preseason 1-1-0 after dropping the first matchup to Norfolk the night prior.

Atlanta will drop the puck on their 2016-17 season next Friday, as they host the Toledo Walleye. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:35 PM Friday night at the Infinite Energy Arena.