Gladiators Wallop Warriors 7-3
April 4, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release
DULUTH, Ga. - Two trade deadline acquisitions led the way Friday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, as Mike Merrifield scored two goals and Eriks Sevcenko tallied four assists in a 7-3 Gladiators win over the Greenville Road Warriors in front of 5,703 fans.
Gwinnett (28-36-3-2) picked up Merrifield, Sevcenko, and future considerations from the Florida Everblades on March 12th in exchange for Evan Bloodoff and Rob Kwiet. Merrifield now has six goals and five assists in 11 games with Gwinnett, while Sevcenko has seven assists in 11 games and is a +3. The Gladiators now 20-0 when leading after two periods this season.
Both teams played a competitive and fast paced first period, with the first whistle of the night coming 6:54 into the period when Bretton Cameron made it 1-0 in favor of Greenville (38-24-2-3) with his goal on the 2-on-1 pass from Kyle Jean. The Gladiators would return the favor at 12:22 when Chris Culligan scored his second time in three games with the Gladiators, on a pretty backhand pass from his childhood friend from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Joey Haddad.
With the scored even through 20 minutes, the Gladiators pulled away in the second. Seven minutes into the stanza Legault tipped a point shot from Sevcenko through the legs of Greenville goalie Jeff Malcolm to put Gwinnett ahead 2-1. Haddad picked up his second assist on the night on the play.
Dirk Southern then hammered home a rebound on the far side of the crease on the power play 1:35 later, with Sevcenko and Marshall Everson getting the helpers. Mike Merrifield extended the Gladiators lead to 4-1 at 11:07, tipping in a beautiful cross-ice pass at the near post from Eric Springer. Josh Currie also had an assist. Greenville cut the deficit to two goals just 46 seconds later, with Andrew Rowe cashing in on a partial breakaway for his 28th goal of the season.
The Gladiators put the game away in the third. Everson potted his 20th goal of the season at 6:18, slapping in a backdoor pass from Casey Pierro-Zabotel after Brenden Walker was denied on a point blank chance. At 10:55 Merrifield's second of the night pushed the lead to 6-2, deflecting a Sevcenko point blast by Malcolm. Will MacDonald added the second assist. Josh Currie tacked on a power play goal at 16:52, ripping a one-timer from the near circle under Malcolm with Sevcenko and Matt Clune setting the play up.
Sam Noreau's first goal of the season at 18:34 rounded out the scoring for Greenville, but was an afterthought in a dominant 7-3 Gladiators victory.
Malcolm made 29 saves for the Warriors in a losing cause, and has surrendered 13 goals in his past two starts against Gwinnett. Mark Guggenberger stopped 30 shots for the Gladiators, who had the only two chances on the man advantage on the night and cashed in on both against the league's top penalty kill.
Both teams square off for the final time this season Saturday at 7 p.m. in Greenville. Gwinnett's next home game is Wednesday April 9th at 7:05 p.m. against the Elmira Jackals. To purchase tickets, please visit www.gwinnettgladiators.com, or call the main office line at 770-497-5100.
The Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the nation's premier "AA" hockey league and are affiliated with the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL. All home games are played at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.
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