DULUTH, Ga. - The Atlanta Gladiators (15-13-3-1) defeated the South Carolina Stingrays (18-9-2-1) by a final score of 3-2 in the shootout on Friday night, at Gas South Arena, in Duluth, Georgia.
Ethan Haider got the nod in goal for the Gladiators, while Garin Bjroklund started for the Stingrays.
At 7:21 of the first period, the Glads struck first, as Easton Armstrong (5th) deflected a point shot from Andrew Jarvis. Connor Galloway received the secondary assist on the goal.
In the second period, the Stingrays responded, as at 15:03, forward Ryan Hofer (5th) sniped the game-tying goal over the glove of Ethan Haider.
In the third, while at even strength, Atlanta took the lead right back, as Cody Sylvester (9th) wristed home the go-ahead goal from the right circle at 4:20.
A few minutes later, at 8:17, Tyler Weiss (7th) scored for the Stingrays, tying the contest at two goals for each side.
60 minutes would solve nothing, as the two teams went to overtime tied at two. The shots on goal after regulation concluded was 33-25, Atlanta.
In the extra session, the Gladiators hung strong, thanks to a massive penalty kill and multiple sensational saves from Ethan Haider.
Patriks Marcinkevics began the shootout for the Gladiators, lifting a backhander to the roof.
Fresh off of an Ethan Haider save on Josh Wilkins, the Gladiators turned to defenseman Christian Hausinger, who made no mistake executing a backhand forehand move to perfection.
Kyler Kupka had the last chance for the Stingrays, and he was denied by Ethan Haider.
Ethan Haider made 27 saves on 29 shots in regulation, including both saves in the shootout in the win, while Garin Bjorklund made 31 saves on 33 shots in the defeat for South Carolina.
On the victory, here’s what head coach Derek Nesbitt had to say. “It’s a resilient win. Tonight we saw two teams who played incredibly hard against each other. It’s been a heck of a season series against them [South Carolina] so far and it's good to see us win two out of three times.”
When asked if he had a say in Christian Hausinger’s selection for the shootout, assistant coach Matt Ginn said, “You know it. It was great to see him score on that beautiful backhand forehand move.”
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