Gladiators Comeback Falls Just Short

Coming off of a long nine-day break, the Atlanta Gladiators returned to action on Friday night as they welcomed the Orlando Solar Bears back to the Infinite Energy Arena.

Orlando struck first in the game when Tony Cameranesi sent a shot over the glove of the Gladiators net minder, Dan Vladar. The rookie set up the play by stealing the puck from the Gladiators near the blue line, and then maneuvered his way to the high slot where he took his shot. The unassisted goal came just 1:50 into the opening frame, and was Cameranesi’s eighth of the season.

The visitors would then double their lead 13:38 into the first on a power play tally from Austin Block. Denver Manderson and Brendan Miller had been sending pass back and forth to each other at the point, which allowed Block to sneak into the middle of the slot. Manderson saw his teammate wide open and sent a quick pass to the Colorado native, who then skittered the puck across the ice and through the pads of a screened Vladar. Block’s sixth of the season made the score 2-0 in favor of Orlando, and was assisted by Manderson and Miller.

Just under seven minutes into the second period, the Solar Bears found the back of the net once again to increase their lead to 3-0. Patrick Watling was the Orlando player credited with the power play goal after he shot in a rebound that bounced directly to his stick off the pads of Vladar. Eric Faille and Nikolas Brouillard both received an assist on Watling’s sixth goal.

Atlanta finally showed signs of life and scored just over five minutes later to cut the lead to 3-1. Ben Marshall ripped home a slap shot on a 2-on-1 play that sailed in between the glove and pad of Orlando’s goalie, Kasimir Kaskisuo. The Gladiators defenseman was credited with his third goal of the season, while both Bryan Cameron and Austin McKay picked up an assist on the play.

The Gladiators would then close the gap even more after Derek Nesbitt scorched a wrist shot over Kaskisuo’s shoulder on the power play. The Atlanta Captain’s 14th goal of the season was set up by a give-and-go play with Marshall, and cut the deficit to only 3-2 with less than ten minutes remaining.

Despite the momentum gained throughout the third period, Atlanta could not catch up the Solar Bears and fell to their division-foes by a final score of 4-2. Orlando’s fourth goal was an empty netter that Ben Danford sent the length of the ice.

With the loss on home ice, the Gladiators dropped to 10-11-2-1 on the year and fell to fourth in the ECHL South Division with 23 points. Meanwhile, Orlando maintained their spot in second in the South division with 28 points and improved to a record of 13-7-2-0.