READING, Pa. The Atlanta Gladiators (31-25-5-1) fell behind 3-0 in the game before making a strong push late in the contest, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Reading Royals (35-20-4-0) by a score of 3-2 on Saturday night at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.
First Star: Tyler Heidt (REA) - 1 goal, 1 assist
Second Star: Evan Barratt (REA) - 1 goal, 1 assist
Third Star: Billy Constantinou (ATL) - 1 goal
Reading opened the scoring just past the midway point of the first period to lead 1-0 (11:40).
The Royals doubled their lead to 2-0 with just over seven minutes remaining in the second period (12:50).
Reading pushed their lead to 3-0 just over eight minutes into the third period (8:15).
The Gladiators broke the Royals shutout streak midway through the third period to cut the deficit to 3-1 (12:02). Billy Constantinou wired an absolute bullet of a shot into the net for his sixth goal of the season.
With just over three minutes remaining the Gladiators pulled goaltender Tyler Harmon for the extra attacker and it paid off.
Sang-Hoon Shin knocked home a loose puck in front of the Royals net for his 25th goal of the season, making it a 3-2 hockey game (16:55). Atlanta tried but could not draw even late in the contest as Reading skated away with the victory.
Pat Nagle turned aside 38 shots in the win for Reading, meanwhile Tyler Harmon stopped 36 shots in the loss for Atlanta.