KALAMAZOO, MI. - The Atlanta Gladiators (25-25-5-2) fell to the Kalamazoo Wings (24-26-3-1) by a final score of 5-2 on Friday night, at the Wings Event Center, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Drew DeRidder got the start in net for the Gladiators, while, on the other side of the rink, stood the Kalamazoo native, in Hunter Vorva.
15:24 into the first period, the K-Wings scored first, as Josh Bloom (9th) broke in all alone, and fired a wrist shot five hole on Drew DeRidder. The goal was assisted by defenseman Zach Berzolla.
After the first period, Atlanta was being out-shot 15-5, and out-scored 1-0.
15:00 into the second stanza, Kalamazoo scored again, this time shorthanded. Zach Berzolla shook loose on a breakaway, but Drew DeRidder stood tall, making a magnificent pad save. Zack Okabe (15th) was following up on the play, and made no mistake, doubling the advantage for his squad.
Just over three minutes later, Eric Neiley (12th) fought past the Kalamazoo defense, and roofed a backhander upstairs on the K-Wings net minder to put the Glads on the board.
Down 2-1 entering the final frame, Atlanta needed a big push to get back into the contest. The push would indeed come inside the opening five minutes, as Derek Topatigh (9th) one-timed a blast low on Hunter Vorva. Jackson Pierson received the lone helper on the tally.
37 seconds later, the K-Wings struck right back, as Josh Bloom (10th) took advantage of a turnover, and blistered a wrist shot past Drew DeRidder. For Bloom, that was his second goal of the evening.
With about three minutes to go in regulation time, Tyler Drevitch was called for roughing, giving the home team a chance to ice the game with a power-play goal.
In the dying seconds of the man advantage, Zack Okabe (16th) grabbed the puck after a juicy bounce off of the end wall, and slammed the biscuit into the cage.
Josh Bloom (11th) would secure the hat-trick with an empty-net goal at 18:59, giving Kalamazoo a three-goal lead.
Drew DeRidder made 30 saves on 34 shots in the loss for Atlanta, while Hunter Vorva stopped 19 of 21 in the win for the K-Wings.
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