Jacksonville, FL – The Jacksonville Icemen defeated the Atlanta Gladiators 4-3 in overtime at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Halloween afternoon. Atlanta rallied from down 3-1 to tie the game at 3 with 48 seconds left in regulation, but Jacksonville survived the scare, as forward Colby Ambrosio scored with 21 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Jacksonville to victory.

The Gladiators longest road trip of the season continued on to Jacksonville where they met the Icemen for the first time on the season. Atlanta started netminder Ethan Haider, while Jacksonville gave the nod to Michael Bullion.

Atlanta got off to a great start and led the shot count 4-0 early, but a helmet violation penalty to Colton Friesen took the momentum away from the Gladiators and put the Icemen on the power play. Jacksonville was able to convert with 11 seconds left on the man advantage, as Jaques Bouquot scored on a left wing shot from Tanner Kelly and Trevor Griebel 6:05 into the period to make it a 1-0 game. 

The Gladiators responded with a power play goal of their own, as Ethan Strang tied the game up with his second goal of the season from Mike McNamee and John Prokop with 1:24 remining in the first period. Both teams went 1/1 on the power play in the opening frame, as Jacksonville led the shot count 11-6 in a 1-1 tie.

The Icemen leapt out to a two-goal lead scoring two goals in 2:20 in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. At 10:26 into the period, Ethan Haider made a save and believed he had the rebound, but Timothy Heinke saw the loose puck and punched it in to make it 2-1. Kyle Bettens and Trevor Griebel assisted on the go-ahead goal. Shortly afterwards, Bouquot scored his second of the game from a faceoff victory by Jesse Tucker to extend the Icemen lead to 3-1. The Gladiators had two looks on the power play in the second period but came up empty handed. Jacksonville led 3-1 after two periods despite the Gladiators outshooting them 9-6 in the middle frame.

Atlanta rallied in the third period to tie the game at 3-3. The Gladiators struck on the power play for the second time 9:39 into the second period when Ben Strinden found Austin Roest in front of the net for his first goal of the season. Roest’s goal was assisted by Strinden and Prokop and cut the deficit to one. Atlanta continued to press for the tying goal, and with the net empty and 48 seconds left on the clock, Anthony Cipollone fired the puck toward the net from beneath the left circle where Sam Tremblay tipped it in for the tying goal. Tremblay’s third goal of the season was assisted by the Cipollone brothers, Anthony and Joey, with Anthony picking up his first professional point. The game went to overtime tied at 3-3, with the shot count tied at 23. 

Atlanta had the better chances of the two clubs in overtime, but Michael Bullion stood on his head to keep the Gladiators out of the net. With 21 seconds left in the extra session, Jacksonville’s Colby Ambrosio scored on a rush from the right wing to give the Icemen a 4-3 victory. Haider stopped 22/26 in the loss, while Bullion stopped 23/26 for Jacksonville. Atlanta went 2/6 on the power play and 0/1 on the penalty kill.

It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Gladiators as they head to North Charleston on Sunday for a date with the South Carolina Stingrays. Puck drop is set for 3:05 PM Eastern, watch the game live on FloHockey or listen in on the Gladiators YouTube Channel.