ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators drop road opener in Augusta, 6-5

October 21, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Despite three assists by Brad Schell, the Gwinnett Gladiators could not catch the Augusta Lynx on Saturday night at the James Brown Arena in a 6-5 loss. Gwinnett trailed by a goal for much of the evening but could not equalize the contest. With the loss, the Gladiators fall to 1-1-0 on the season.

Augusta jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Ryan Lang goal just 1:45 in to the first period. Lang ripped a snapshot over the shoulder of Gladiators netminder Dan Turple from the left wing face off circle for the maker. Shane Hynes and Louis Goulet picked up the assists on the marker.

Jon Awe equalized the contest, posting his second goal of the season on the power play 3:28 into the opening period. Schell slid the puck over to a waiting Awe at the point, where the defenseman ripped a slap shot over the shoulder of Augusta netminder David McKee for the marker.

The Lynx regained the lead on Hynes first goal of the contest. The forward went end-to-end and slid the puck past Turple for the marker. Derek Byfuglien and Ryan Lang had the assists as they worked the puck to Hynes to set up the goal on the power play.

Andrew Contois posted his first goal of the season, ripping a shot over the shoulder of McKee and off the post before landing in the back of the net. Jim Jackson picked up an assist on the goal at the 15:08 mark of the first period, firing an outlet pass up the left wing wall to a waiting Contois.

Lang pushed the Lynx back into the lead with his second goal of the night. Ken Scuderi and Louis Goulet added the assists moving the puck to Lang to set up the goal. Lang flipped the puck past Turple just 81 seconds after Contois' marker.

The teams exchanged goals in the second period as Augusta took a 4-2 lead on a dump in by Nathan Saunders. Turple went behind the Gwinnett net to play the puck but it hit a seam in the glass, bounced back into the middle of the ice and into the back of the net. Dirk Southern and Jason Kostadine had assists on the goal.

Gwinnett answered to get back within a goal on Colton Fretter's first professional tally. Another blast from the point, Awe ripped a slap shot that was deflected in the slot by Fretter past McKee for the power play marker. Schell also collected an assist on the goal as he fed Awe at the point to set up the marker with 3:23 left in the second period.

Augusta took a 5-3 lead early in the third period on Hynes' second marker of the game, as he beat Turple with a snap shot for the marker. J.B. Bittner and Joe Cardarelli added the assists on the goal for the Lynx.

The Gladiators again battled back as Mike Vigilante got Gwinnett within a goal with his second goal of season picking up a rebound off the back dasher board and flipping the puck past McKee for the marker. Awe had his second assist of the contest on the power play goal at the 14:41 mark of the third period.

Augusta answered for the fourth time during the contest as Jon Landry was able to find a loose puck in the slot and jam the puck past Turple and into the net to give the Lynx a 6-4 lead. Southern and Kostadine added the assists on the marker.

Jeff Campbell posted his first goal of the season deflecting Jackson's slapshot from the point past McKee to get the Gladiators within a goal at 6-5 but Gwinnett would get no closer. Schell also had a helper on the maker.

Gwinnett went 3-14 on the power play in the loss while Augusta was 1-for-11 on the man advantage. Turple posted 26 saves in his first professional start and falls to 0-1-0 on the season.

The Gwinnett Gladiators continue their fourth season as a proud member of the ECHL on October 23rd at Charlotte vs. the Checkers. 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.

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ECHL Stories from October 21, 2006


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