ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gwinnett Drops Road Match to Road Warriors

December 8, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


GREENVILLE, S.C. - In their eighth matchup in 23 games, the Gwinnett Gladiators fell to the Greenville Road Warriors, 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Road Warriors improved to 6-2 against the Gladiators this season with the win. The I-85 rivals won't face each other again until March 13th back in Greenville.

Gwinnett (6-14-0-2) scored the first goal of the game at 6:55 on thepower play when Marshall Everson tipped a point shot from Jonathan Narbonne. Evan Bloodoff also picked up an assist on the play as the Gladiators converted on their first power play against Greenville's (7-12-1-1) second ranked penalty kill.

At 10:24, the Road Warriors responded with a goal of their own when Brad Cole rifled a blistering shot over Peter Delmas' left shoulder, assisted from Michael St. Croix and Marc-Olivier Vallerand. Then, towards the end of the period, Greenville scored a controversial goal when Vallerand knocked Delmas over in the crease, sat on top of the goaltender for a few extra seconds, and then stood in the crease when Lee Baldwin scored from atop the left wing faceoff circle at 18:51. Andrew Rowe and St. Croix also picked up assists on the play.

Weathering a second straight period of Greenville offensive pressure, the Gladiators tied the score at two when Daniel Spivak blew one past ScottStajcer for his first goal of the season. Evan Bloodoff and Everson assisted on the play as Spivak crossed over the offense blue line, holding the puck in the zone a split second before blasting the shot at 14:33. Greenville followed their 21-10 shot edge in the first period with an 18-8 second period.

Things proved closer in the final frame as Greenville edged out Gwinnett, 14-13 in shots. Andrew Rowe scored his fifth goal against the Gladiators this season at 10:46, assisted by Justin Vaive and Sam Klassen, then Vaive scored the game-winning goal three minutes later deflecting it in with a possible high-stick, on the initial shot from Mike Marcou and a secondary assist from Brandon Hynes.

With their backs against the wall, Mike Embach and Marshall Everson made things interesting late when Everson intercepted a clearing pass, fed the puck across to Embach, who scored on the one-timer past Baldwin and Stajcer at 18:54. The Road Warriors turned their lead back to two just 20 seconds later thanks to a Bretton Cameron empty net goal at 19:17. With the goal, Embach extended his goal streak to three games, and point streak to four.

Delmas finished the day making 48 saves on 52 shots, while Stajcer stopped 28 of 31.

The Gladiators will return to the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Friday, December 13th to face the South Division leading South Carolina Stingrays at 7:05 P.M. Join the Gladiators for night one of the 9th Annual Sing for Santa as over 1,000 local school children lead the home crowd in renditions of everyone's favorite holiday tunes. To purchase tickets, please visit www.gwinnettgladiators.com or call the front office 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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