Orlando, Fl. The Atlanta Gladiators (16-23-2-0) special teams scored two short-handed goals and added one on the power play as the team beat the Orlando Solar Bears (20-13-4-2) by a score of 3-2 Monday evening in Orlando, Florida. The victory was Atlanta’s third win over the Solar Bears in a week.
First Star: Cody Sylvester (ATL) - 1 goal, 1 assist, +1
Second Star: Jackson Pierson (ATL) - 2 assists, +1
Third Star: Mitchell Hoelscher (ORL) - 2 goals
Atlanta opened the scoring while shorthanded to grab a 1-0 lead (3:04). Jackson Pierson pushed the puck past an Orlando Solar Bears defenseman and took off down the left side before feeding a wide open Cody Sylvester who netted his 13th goal of the season.
The Gladiators extended their lead to 2-0 early in the second period while on the powerplay (00:41). Luke Prokop blasted a one-time pass from Jackson Pierson into the Solar Bears net for his fourth of the season.
A beautiful short-handed effort from Robert Calisti gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead (6:08). Calisti picked off the Orlando power play on a bad zone entry and created a breakaway for himself which he capitalized on to score his seventh of the season.
The Solar Bears would make the game interesting late as Mitchell Hoelscher netted his 18th of the year to make the score 3-1 (18:21).
Orlando drew within one-goal just seventeen-seconds later to make it a 3-2 game as Hoelscher scored his second goal of the night (18:38).
A late push from the Solar Bears continued with their net empty but the Gladiators stood strong to seal the victory.
Josh Boyko made 38 saves to pick up the victory in his Atlanta Gladiators debut, meanwhile Evan Fitzpatrick allowed three goals on 21 shots in the loss for Orlando.
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