ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Fall to Sea Wolves 4-3

December 29, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The visiting Mississippi Sea Wolves scored a late power play goal to beat the Gwinnett Gladiators Monday night by a score of 4-3 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Mike Berry opened the scoring for the Sea Woves 10:46 into the first period. Forward Chris Lawrence fired a shot from the right wing circle that bounced off of the boards behind the net directly to Berry, waiting on the left wing doorstep.

Gwinnett tied the game 47 seconds later, on Chris Cava's fourth goal of the season. Brad Schell passed the puck from the right wing faceoff circle to Cava on the opposite side. The veteran defensemen beat netminder Ryan Munce with a slapshot to make the score 1-1.

Mississippi retook the lead just over two minutes later. Mark Rooneem carried the puck into the offensive zone on a breakaway. Gwinnett goaltender Josh Johnson missed on a pokecheck attempt, and the puck slid through his legs for the goal.

Sea Wolves captain Jason Tejchma scored 8:43 into the first period to make the score 3-1. Mike Berry threw a puck from the high slot to Tejchma on the left side of the net. Ryan Menei tallied the other assist, his second on the night.

Jordan Fox scored with just under 7 minutes left in the second stanza to bring the Gladiators to within one goal. The forward carried the puck in on the right side, dragged across to the middle, and roofed a shot over Munce for his team leading 13th goal of the season.

Defensmen Scott Marchesi tied the game early in the third period. A Matt Siddall shot deflected to Marchesi in the center of the offensive zone, and he put it past Munce for the equalizer. Brennan Turner registered the second assist.

Scott Jackson, playing in only his third game with Mississippi, scored his first goal on the power play for the game winner with 3:20 left in the third period. In a game that saw 13 power play chances combined between the two teams, the only successful man advantage was the deciding goal.

A late push by Gladiators was not able to put in a late tying goal, making the final score 4-3 in favor of the Sea Wolves.

New Gladiator Brennan Turner scored two assists in his first game with the team.

Gwinnett was 0-for-8 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:30 at the end of the first period.

Ryan Munce made 26 saves for the win, and Johnson tallied 17 in the losing effort. The loss drops the Gladiators to 12-14-4 on the season.

Gwinnett continues action in the 2008-09 Friday, January 2, on the road against the South Carolina Stingrays.

The visiting Mississippi Sea Wolves scored a late power play goal to beat the Gwinnett Gladiators Monday night by a score of 4-3 in front of 4,398 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Mike Berry opened the scoring for the Sea Woves 10:46 into the first period. Forward Chris Lawrence fired a shot from the right wing circle that bounced off of the boards behind the net directly to Berry, waiting on the left wing doorstep.

Gwinnett tied the game 47 seconds later, on Chris Cava's fourth goal of the season. Brad Schell passed the puck from the right wing faceoff circle to Cava on the opposite side. The veteran defensemen beat netminder Ryan Munce with a slapshot to make the score 1-1.

Mississippi retook the lead just over two minutes later. Mark Rooneem carried the puck into the offensive zone on a breakaway. Gwinnett goaltender Josh Johnson missed on a pokecheck attempt, and the puck slid through his legs for the goal.

Sea Wolves captain Jason Tejchma scored 8:43 into the first period to make the score 3-1. Mike Berry threw a puck from the high slot to Tejchma on the left side of the net. Ryan Menei tallied the other assist, his second on the night.

Jordan Fox scored with just under 7 minutes left in the second stanza to bring the Gladiators to within one goal. The forward carried the puck in on the right side, dragged across to the middle, and roofed a shot over Munce for his team leading 13th goal of the season.

Defensmen Scott Marchesi tied the game early in the third period. A Matt Siddall shot deflected to Marchesi in the center of the offensive zone, and he put it past Munce for the equalizer. Brennan Turner registered the second assist.

Scott Jackson, playing in only his third game with Mississippi, scored his first goal on the power play for the game winner with 3:20 left in the third period. In a game that saw 13 power play chances combined between the two teams, the only successful man advantage was the deciding goal.

A late push by Gladiators was not able to put in a late tying goal, making the final score 4-3 in favor of the Sea Wolves.

New Gladiator Brennan Turner scored two assists in his first game with the team.

Gwinnett was 0-for-8 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:30 at the end of the first period.

Ryan Munce made 26 saves for the win, and Johnson tallied 17 in the losing effort. The loss drops the Gladiators to 12-14-4 on the season.

Gwinnett continues action in the 2008-09 Friday, January 2, on the road against the South Carolina Stingrays.

Began in 1988-89 with five teams playing in four states, the Premier 'AA' Hockey League has grown into a coast-to-coast league that will have 21 teams in 16 states and British Columbia playing 864 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Eighteen of the 23 teams have played at least five years in their current city.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game last season, marking the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the league has averaged over 4,000 fans. The league has drawn over four million fans each of the last five years and 11 times in the past 12 seasons.

The Gwinnett Gladiators open their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL in October of 2008 - season ticket packages 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 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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ECHL Stories from December 29, 2008


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