Greenville, SC – The Atlanta Gladiators concluded the 2025-26 regular season with a 5-3 win over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Sunday afternoon. 

Atlanta and Greenville met for the 14^th and final time this season in the final game of the regular season. The Swamp Rabbits had already been eliminated from postseason contention, while the Gladiators were locked into the third seed in the South Division, set to meet South Carolina in the first round. Still, the I-85 rivalry did not disappoint, with Ethan Haider starting net for Atlanta, and Isaiah Saville for Greenville.

Both teams traded chances within the opening five minutes, with the tide shifting in Greenville’s favor as the period reached its midpoint. Ethan Haider came up huge for the Gladiators in the first period, making a series of stunning saves to keep it a tie game. The Swamp Rabbits continued to transform the game into a track meet and eventually broke through, with rookie defenseman Michael Mastrodomenico scoring on a right point shot to make it 1-0 Greenville. Ryan O’Hara and Neil Shea factored in with the assists on the opening tally with 4:57 to play in the first. Moments later, Brett Bulmer went to the box for holding, putting the Gladiators on the penalty kill. Aggressive on the forecheck, Joey Cipollone created a turnover in the Greenville zone and found a trailer in Brendan Less who fired in his 4^th of the season shorthanded to tie the game. It was the Gladiators’ 12^th shorthanded goal of the season, with Less becoming the 10^th different skater to score a shorthanded tally. Less’ goal came with 2:23 left in the opening period to make it 1-1. That score held after 20 minutes, with the Swamp Rabbits outshooting the Gladiators 14-8.

Greenville leapt back in front with another goal from a defenseman as Tristan De Jong scored his 2^nd of the season to make it 2-1. After a skirmish following a check on Gladiators forward Brett Bulmer, Evan Orr and Tristan De Jong were sent to the box. After 4v4 play expired, both jumped back into the play to chase after a puck that was rolling between the circles toward Haider. The Gladiators netminder elected to play the puck but it hit De Jong who took it to the goal for the go-ahead goal 8:06 into the period. 3:10 later, Cipollone tied the game at 2-2, poking in a puck that sat on the goal line for his 17^th of the season from Carson Denomie and Isak Walther. Eric Neiley gave the Gladiators their first lead of the day, creating a turnover and scoring it with 4:49 left in the period. Neiley had a 2v1 with Alex Young waiting backdoor and tried to send the puck across, but it ended up hitting a defender and going in for his 3^rd of the season. With the goal, Neiley extended his point streak to five games with 3 goals and 2 assists in that span. The Gladiators second period surge put them in front 3-2 after outshooting the Swamp Rabbits 12-9 in the middle frame.

Atlanta continued to dictate the terms of the game in the third, and extended its lead to 4-2 as Ryan Conroy scored his 5^th of the season from Cody Sylvester 6:35 into the period. Sylvester was initially stuffed on the zone entry but found Conroy open cross-ice, setting him up for the score. The Gladiators were able to fend the Swamp Rabbits off and tack on an empty netter from Carson Denomie with 49 seconds to play to make it a 5-2 game, before Greenville’s Connor Milburn scored with .8 seconds left to make it a 5-3 final.

Haider was excellent, stopping 26/29 for his 24^th win of the season – the third most by a Gladiators goaltender in a single season. Saville stopped 22/26 for the Swamp Rabbits. Atlanta went 0/1 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill, including the shorthanded goal from Less.

The Gladiators turn their attention to the 2026 Kelly Cup Playoffs, where they will square off against the South Carolina Stingrays in round one. Game 1 is set for Friday, April 24 at North Charleston Coliseum with puck drop set for 7:05 PM. Fans can watch live on FloHockey or listen in on YouTube with coverage on the Gladiators Broadcast Network beginning at 6:45 PM.

Playoff tickets for games 3 & 4 at Gas South Arena are on sale NOW - join the Gladiators in their quest for their first ever Kelly Cup! Get your playoff tickets HERE and join the battle today!