Duluth, GA – The Atlanta Gladiators defeated the Jacksonville Icemen 3-2 on Friday night at as South Arena and dominated the special teams battle, going 2/2 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill.

The Gladiators returned home after winning two out of three games in Utah last week for the first game of a 3-in-3. The Icemen entered the matchup having won back to back games for the first time since late November. Atlanta started rookie phenom T.J. Semptimphelter in net, while the Icemen started netminder Cameron Rowe.

The game began with a successful Gladiators penalty kill in the opening moments of the game. There were very few shots on goal from either side to start, with just the second shot of the game hitting the back of the net 6:25 into the first. Louis Boudon scored on a shot from between the circles off of a feed from Chad Nychuk to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Isak Walther factored in with the secondary assist. Walther scored a goal of his own with 5:50 left in the opening frame on the power play, taking a pass in front of the net and spinning to the backhand to tuck it in five hole on Rowe to give the Gladiators a 2-0 lead. Walther’s power play tally was assisted by Cody Sylvester and Alex Young. Jacksonville responded 80 seconds later, as Matteo Costantini was able to pop a loose puck into the back of the net off of a flurry of chances. Taos Jordan and Bennett MacArthur earned assists on the goal that made it 2-1. 

Only one goal was scored in the second period, as Atlanta continued its dominance in the special teams battle with a power play goal with 6:23 left in the period. Ryan Nolan fired a laser from the right circle beating Rowe far side to make it 3-1 and give Atlanta its second power play goal of the night. Ryan Francis and Jack Matier factored in with the assists.

In the third period, the Gladiators controlled the play for much of the period before a late Icemen push to tie the game, beginning with a goal from Chris Brown with 4:49 to go from Taos Jordan to make it 3-2. The Icemen put together a solid effort to try and tie the game, but Semptimphelter and the Gladiators kept the door shut and earned the 3-2 victory.

The Gladiators were perfect on special teams, going 2/2 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill. Semptimphelter stopped 24/26 for his ninth victory of the season, helping Atlanta improve to 17-6. Louis Boudon was named the first star of the game with one goal. Isak Walther was the second star with a goal and an assist. Ryan Nolan was the third star with the game winning goal.

The Gladiators are off to Greenville for a date with the Swamp Rabbits Saturday night with puck drop at 6:05 PM. Coverage on the Gladiators Broadcast Network on HockeyTV and YouTube begins at 5:45.