Jacksonville, FL – The Atlanta Gladiators defeated the Jacksonville Icemen 5-2 on Friday Night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena to improve to 7-1 on the season. Atlanta opened its four game road trip with a strong showing in Jacksonville, spoiling the Icemen’s home opener.
Coming off of a 3-1 loss to Greenville on Wednesday morning, the Gladiators looked to bounce back in Jacksonville on Friday night. T.J. Semptimphelter got the start for the Gladiators in goal, while Scott Ratzlaff started in net for Jacksonville.
While much of the opening period was scoreless, the Gladiators opened the scoring with 3:33 left in the first period. Cody Sylvester hammered in his first goal of the season on the power play from Chad Nychuk and Louis Boudon eleven seconds into the man advantage. Atlanta took the 1-0 lead to the locker room, with the Icemen leading the shot count 10-9.
Things opened up in the second period, with play becoming more physical. Both teams got into some penalty trouble, which led to the Icemen scoring on a 4 on 3, 7:28 into the second period. Christopher Brown scored his fourth of the year from Fulp and MacArthur to tie the game at 1-1. It did not stay tied for long, as 17 seconds later, Ryan Francis found Louis Boudon for his third of the year to put Atlanta back up at 2-1. Jacksonville went back to the power play and converted 2:03 later to tie the game at 2-2, with Hardie scoring for Jacksonville. Another penalty on Atlanta late in the period put Jacksonville back on the power play, but this time the Gladiators were able to score a shorthanded goal to go up 3-2. Louis Boudon threw a pass behind his back to Alex Young who went forehand to backhand to beat Ratzlaff for his fourth of the year. Atlanta led 3-2 through two periods and outshot Jacksonville 8-6 in the second period.
Atlanta was able to close things out in the third, with Isak Walther making it 4-2, 2:33 into the period, and Alex Young scoring late with 4:45 left to make it a 5-2 final. T.J. Semptimphelter stopped 19/21 for his fourth victory of the year. The Gladiators improved to 3-0 on the road this season and 7-1 overall. Atlanta’s power play went 1/3 while the penalty kill went 3/5. The Gladiators outshot the Icemen 24-21.
Alex Young (2g) was named the first star of the game, while Louis Boudon (1g, 2a) was named the second star. Atlanta’s road trip continues Saturday night in Savannah as they take on the Ghost Pirates at Enmarket Arena. Coverage begins at 6:40 on FloSports and the Atlanta Gladiators YouTube channel.
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