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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Beat Stingrays 5-3, Clinch Playoff Berth

March 29, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators clinched a berth in the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 win over the South Carolina Stingrays on Thursday night on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. With the win, Gwinnett moves into a tie for second place in the South Division with 85 points while improving to 39-21-7 on the year.

Gwinnett jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Stingrays with a pair of goals within two minutes of each other in the first period. Luke Erickson got the Gladiators on the board at the 5:56 mark of the first period as he deflected Jon Awe's wrist shot from the point past Stingrays netminder Daren Machesney. Scott Mifsud also had an assist on the power play goal for the Gladiators pushing the puck back to the point to Awe to set up the marker.

Brandon Kaleniecki's 4th goal of the season at the 7:29 mark gave the Gladiators a 2-0 lead on the Stingrays as he flicked the puck past Machesney for the marker. Scott Mifsud had his second assist of the night while Erickson also had a helper on the marker.

Gwinnett pushed its lead to 3-0 at the 15:20 mark of the first period on Scott Mifsud's 26th goal of the year. The marker came just 17 seconds after South Carolina had a goal disallowed. Erickson and Kaleniecki hooked up to post the assists on the goal for the Gladiators.

South Carolina cut the Gladiators lead to just a goal by the end of the second period after posting a pair of markers just 36 seconds apart in the middle stanza. Peter Szabo took a centering feed and ripped a shot past Gladiators netminder Dave Caruso at the 10:02 mark of the second period to get the Stingrays on the board. Travis Morin and Chris Chaput collected the assists on the goal.

Josh Anderson got the Stingrays within a goal at 10:38 of the second period, beating Caruso to the far post for the marker. Nate Kiser and Matt Stefanishion posted the assists on the goal setting up Anderson on the marker.

Gwinnett pushed their lead back to two goals as Jim Jackson collected his 13th goal of the season. Finishing a 3-on-2 break with Kaleniecki and Erickson, Jackson jammed the puck past Machesney at 5:37 of the third period for the goal.

The Stingrays battled back to get within a goal as Matt Reid ripped a snapshot past Caruso at the 10:57 mark of the third period. Schwabe and Michael Haley posted the assists on the goal for the Stingrays.

Jackson iced the contest for the Gladiators posting his second maker of the night with 1:02 left in the third period. Jackson posted the goal unassisted as he cleared the puck off the glass and into an empty net as the Stingrays had pulled Machesney in favor of an extra attacker.

Caruso finished with 31 saves for the Gladiators as he recorded his 21st win of the season. Gwinnett went 1-4 on the power play in the win while keeping South Carolina off the board on the power play in the contest.

The Gwinnett Gladiators continue their fourth season as a proud member of the ECHL on March 30th as they travel to Columbia to take on the Inferno at 7:05 p.m. Season tickets are on sale now. In addition, the Gladiators offer several unique multi-game ticket packages as well as discounted group rates, suite rentals, and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to gwinnettgladiators.com.

The Gladiators are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and play all home games on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the spectacular 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, where parking is always free.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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