DULUTH, Ga. The Atlanta Gladiators (17-31-2-1) fell to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (34-15-2-0) by a final score of 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at home after a crushingly close loss the night previous in their trip to Greenville.
The Swamp Rabbits drew first blood as Brett Kemp drove in front of net with great speed to give Greenville the early 1-0 lead. (3:59)
The Gladiators generated a few promising chances off nine shots but were unable to affect the scoresheet as the first 20 minutes came to a close.
Things took a lopsided turn for the Gladiators in the second stanza as Greenville jumped out to a three-goal lead after Atlanta had seemingly kept pace with the Swamp Rabbits for a majority of the contest up to that point.
The Gladiators threw a huge momentum-grabbing punch, as Nolan Burke rifled the puck from the high slot to knot the game up at one apiece. (14:19)
The Swamp Rabbits responded less than a minute later as Max Coyle’s shot from the point squeezed through net-front traffic to put his team back in front 2-1. (15:10)
A misfortunate bounce for the Gladiators off the face-off gave the Swamp Rabbits a quick net-front opportunity that Josh McKechney was able to cash in on to go up 3-1. (15:21)
Ben Freeman capped off Greenville’s second period onslaught by crushing a back-door feed to give the Swamp Rabbits an all-too-comfortable 4-1 cushion heading into the final frame. (18:26)
The Swamp Rabbits tallied a goal late in the third period as Ethan Somoza buried the rebound from Joe Leahy to go up 5-1. (17:47)
To add insult to injury, Greenville was able to net a sixth goal by Tanner Eberle with just six seconds remaining as the contest concluded with a 6-1 defeat for the Gladiators.
Barone finished with 36 saves off 42 Greenville shots while his net-minding counterpart Jacob Ingham ended the afternoon with 24 saves off 25 shots from the Gladiators.
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