JACKSONVILLE, Fl. - The Atlanta Gladiators (3-8-2-0) fell to the Jacksonville Icemen (4-3-1-0) by a final score of 4-2 on Friday night, at the Vystar Veteran’s Memorial Arena, in Jacksonville, Florida.
Drew DeRidder got the start for the Gladiators, while Brian Wilson, making just his fifth professional start, got the nod for Jacksonville.
At 4:36 into the first period, for the first time in four games, the Gladiators scored the game’s first goal. Joey Cipollone (4) shoveled in a shot from the blue line through the pads of Brian Wilson.
At the end of a wide-open first period, the Glads led 1-0, out-shooting the Icemen 15-11.
Come the second period, at 17:32, Jacksonville would finally break through, as Justin McRae (2) knocked in a loud rebound into the top part of the net.
At 15:23 into the second stanza, Atlanta forward Michael Marchesan took a hard fall into the end wall, resulting in Ryan Cranford dropping the gloves with Jacksonville defenseman Carter Allen.
At 10:47 of the third, the Icemen took a 2-1 lead, as defenseman Peter Tischke set up Zach Jordan in the left circle, who fired another shot off of Drew DeRidder’s pad, and the rebound came out perfectly for Brody Crane (2) who smacked it home.
At 16:27, a minor penalty on Gladiator defenseman Dylan Carabia would put Atlanta on the penalty kill for the fourth time in the game. Olivier Nadeau (1) had a puck pin-ball off of his skate and into the net, doubling his team’s lead.
Down by two, the Gladiators elected to pull Drew DeRidder, and with the extra attacker, they would come through, as Joey Cipollone (5) scored his second goal of the evening. As was the case on the game’s first goal, the assists went to Cody Sylvester and Patriks Marcinkevics.
Olivier Nadeau (2) would seal the game for Jacksonville, with an empty-net goal.
Drew DeRidder made 32 saves on 35 shots in the loss for the Gladiators, while Brian Wilson made 37 saves on 39 shots in the win for Jacksonville.
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