Duluth, GA – The Atlanta Gladiators defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 4-3 in a shootout on Sunday afternoon at Gas South Arena in the final meeting of the regular season between the two. The Gladiators finish the season 4-3-2 vs the Stingrays, with a potential playoff series on the horizon.

Separated by just three points in the standings, the Gladiators hosted the Stingrays in the ninth and final meeting of the season at Gas South Arena. Atlanta’s starting netminder was Ethan Haider, while South Carolina’s was Ty Taylor.

There was no scoring in the first period, but the Gladiators came out ready to play dictating the pace and spending much of the opening period in the Stingrays zone, creating chances on net. South Carolina caught some momentum towards the end of the period and outshot the Gladiators 11-9 but were held out of the net with strong play by Haider.

The Stingrays broke the scoreless tie just 56 seconds into the second period, as Romain Rodzinski fired in his 7^th goal of the season from Patrick Thomas and Simon Pinard. In response, Alex Young won a faceoff in the offensive zone and set up Max Grondin for his first professional goal with a one-timer from the high slot. Grondin’s goal came 5:25 into the second period and made it a 1-1 tie. Atlanta took the lead before the period’s end, with Chad Nychuk floating in a shot from the line that beat Taylor upstairs for the go-ahead goal. Nychuk’s 8^th goal of the season came from Young and Ethan Scardina with 6:34 on the clock. 

Alex Young extended the Gladiators lead to 3-1, putting in a rebound in 6:38 into the third period. Grondin took the initial shot, and Mike McNamee also factored in with the secondary assist. But Atlanta wasn’t in the clear yet, as Romain Rozdinski struck again to complete the hat-trick and tie the game at 3-3. He scored his second of the day 8:21 into the third off of a drop pass in the high slot, and his third with 5:46 remaining off a long bid with a screen in front of Haider. Tied up at 3-3 after regulation, South Carolina and Atlanta went to overtime.

There were plenty of chances in overtime, with the Stingrays spending much of OT in the Gladiators zone, but Haider continued to stand on his head to give the Gladiators a chance to win. Atlanta had its chances as well but could not bury the game winner, as the contest remained tied heading into a shootout.

Nychuk scored first in the opening frame to give the Gladiators the edge, while Rodzinski was denied by Haider. Neither Young nor Pinard scored in the second frame, giving O’Brien the chance to win it for Atlanta at the top of the third. O’Brien fired it home, and the Gladiators won the final game of the season series 4-3. Alanta went 0/3 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill. Haider stopped 34/37 (2/2 in the SO), and Taylor 29/32 (1/3 in the SO).

The Gladiators return to action on Wednesday night as they host the Jacksonville Icemen at Gas South Arena with puck drop at 7:10 PM. Get your tickets HERE and join the battle today!