Duluth, GA – The Florida Everblades defeated the Atlanta Gladiators 5-1 on Thursday night at Gas South Arena in the final meeting of the regular season between the two teams. Atlanta finishes the season series with a record of 5-2 vs Florida.
After a hard earned win on Wednesday morning over the Everblades, the Gladiators looked to take the second game of the back-to-back on Thursday night. T.J. Semptimphelter started in net for Atlanta, while Cam Johnson was the starter for Florida once again.
In a blink and you miss it kind of play, the Everblades opened in the scoring in a flash, with Sam Stange scoring 28 seconds into the game to give Florida a 1-0 lead. Stange fired a shot from the high slot that beat Semptimphelter for the score. The Gladiators would have a few good looks in the first period but couldn’t get a puck to bounce their way. They did go 2/2 on the penalty kill in the first, with the period ending with a 1-0 Florida lead and the shot count tied at 10.
While the Gladiators were held scoreless in the first, there were flashes of promise for the second period. However, the Everblades put that optimism to rest with two scores in the middle frame to make it 3-0. Tarun Fizer scored 4:52 in to make it 2-0, followed by Issac Nurse 9:31 in to make it 3-0 off of a shot from the slot. The Gladiators were unable to generate much offensively and were outshot 14-6 in the second period.
Atlanta was able to generate a spark with a power play goal 7:09 into the period from Ryan Francis. Francis’ 6th goal of the season made it a 3-1 contest and was assisted by Nolan Orzeck and Jack O’Brien, giving the Gladiators some life. It was too little too late for the Gladiators, as they were unable to put nay more past Johnson and surrendered an empty net goal to Jordan Sambrook with 47 seconds to go and another off of a turnover to Reid Duke with 15 seconds to play, falling 5-1. Semptimphelter stopped 28/32 in the loss, while Johnson stopped 28/29. Atlanta went 1/4 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill. Despite the loss, the Gladiators win the seven game season series with the Everblades with a 5-2 record vs Florida.
Another critical match in the playoff race is on tap on Sunday afternoon as the Gladiators host the South Carolina Stingrays. Join the Glads for this heavyweight tilt and St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at Gas South Arena at 3:00 PM with tickets available HERE!
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