NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. The Atlanta Gladiators (17-32-2-1) surrendered the first three goals of the game and were never able to recover, as they fell to the South Carolina Stingrays (31-17-2-1) at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center in North Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday morning.
First Star: Ivan Lodnia (SC) - 1 goal, +2
Second Star: Mitchell Gibson (SC) - 25 saves, win
Third Star: Kevin O'Neil (SC) - 2 assists, +2
Despite a strong start for the Gladiators, it was the Stingrays who struck first. Defenseman Nick Leivermann (9) let loose a knuckle puck from the top of the circle that fooled Grigals, and trickled past the goal line. (5:07)
Halfway through the second period, South Carolina would add another, courtesy of a fortuitous bounce. Forward Ivan Lodnia rifled a shot from a prime scoring area after an attempted pass deflected off a Gladiator in front, and as a result, the ricochet fell straight to Lodnia, who blasted the puck through Grigals to double his team's advantage. (10:43)
Despite solid push-back in the final frame, Jack Adams extended his team's advantage to three, capitalizing with a power play tally. (11:15) For Adams, that was his 19th goal of the campaign, and team-leading eighth power play goal.
Jackson Pierson of the Gladiators ended the shutout bid, depositing a juicy rebound off of the pad of Mitchell Gibson. Griffin Luce joined the play late, wasted no time in firing one on net, and Pierson took advantage of the rest, bringing Atlanta within two goals. (13:35)
Mitchell Gibson made 25 saves in the victory for the Stingrays, meanwhile Gustavs Grigals turned aside 24 shots in the loss for Atlanta.
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