Greenville, SC – The Atlanta Gladiators defeated the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 3-2 on Wednesday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Gladiators overcame an early deficit to defeat their rivals from upstate South Carolina and win their fourth straight game.

The Gladiators and the Swamp Rabbits met for the 11^th time this season on Wednesday night. Ethan Haider started in net for the Gladiators, while Pierce Charleson got the nod for the Swamp Rabbits.

Haider was tested early in the contest, stopping Keaton Mastrodonato on a breakaway within the first 30 seconds of the game. An early power play for Greenville led to the game’s opening score, as Mastrodonato fired in his 14^th goal of the season from Kenta Isogai and Josh Atkinson 3:55 into the first. The Swamp Rabbits peppered Haider for the first half of the opening frame, but the second-year pro was able to weather the storm and keep the Gladiators in the game. Slowly the tide began to turn in the Gladiators’ favor. A late power play opportunity for Atlanta in the first period gave them a chance to tie the game and they capitalized on it. Mike McNamee scored in the slot off of a feed from Mickey Burns for the power play goal to tie the game at 1-1 with 1:48 left in the first period. Joey Cipollone factored in with the secondary assist. After one period the game was tied at 1-1, with the Swamp Rabbits outshooting the Gladiators 13-10.

Atlanta took its first lead of the night 7:24 into the second period as Mickey Burns scored his 6^th goal of the season to put the Gladiators up 2-1 and register his first multi-point game of the season. Burns punched in a feed from the slot from Chad Nychuk to give Atlanta the lead. Jack O’Brien earned the secondary assist on what would be the only goal of the second period. After two periods, Atlanta led 2-1 and was outshooting Greenville 24-19.

The Gladiators popped in another goal 2:38 into the third period to give themselves the biggest lead of the night at 3-1, as Joey Cipollone scored his 11^th goal of the season from the right circle on a cross-ice feed from Nychuk, with Ryan Francis factoring in with the secondary assist. Cipollone’s goal gave the Gladiators some breathing room as the Swamp Rabbits desperately looked to tie the game. Greenville began to apply some pressure and on a late power play chance, Mastrodonato struck again. His second power play goal of the night made it a 3-2 game with 3:31 to play. Wade Murphy and Josh Atkinson picked up the assists on Mastrodonato’s team leading 15^th goal of the season. The Swamp Rabbits pulled Charleson in an attempt to tie the game late, but Ethan Haider held firm and foiled their plans, leading the Gladiators to victory.

Haider stopped 33/35 for his 16^th win of the season, guiding the Gladiators to their 9^th win over Greenville in the season series and improving to 31-10-1 overall. The Gladiators went 1/3 on the power play and 2/4 on the penalty kill in the win. Charleson stopped 28/31 for Greenville as the Swamp Rabbits outshot the Gladiators 35-31.

The Gladiators return home to host the Adirondack Thunder for a three-game set on February 13^th, 14^th, and 16^th at Gas South Arena. Saturday night’s theme is Love on the Ice presented by Beaver Toyota and 94.9 The Bull, with the Teddy Bear Toss and Weddings on Ice. Get your tickets HERE and join the battle today!