Inferno slay Gladiators 5-2

Published on April 4, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Columbia Inferno News Release


COLUMBIA, S.C. (April 4, 2008)-The Columbia Inferno (33-28-5-6, 77 points) were powered by a pair of Julien Brouillette goals as they torched the Gwinnett Gladiators (43-23-2-3, 91 points) 5-2 in front of a raucous season-finale crowd on Friday night.

Brouillette scored his first of the night eight minutes into the first when he accepted a pass from Brad Ralph in the low slot and beat goalie Dan Turple's open blocker side. Ralph put the Inferno up 2-0 when he picked up a Joel Hanson rebound in the crease and roofed the puck with a backhand up and over a down-and-out Turple. The Inferno captain's 18th goal of the year came with just 90 seconds left in the first period.

Jeremy Schenderling gave the Inferno a 3-0 lead five minutes into the second period when he tapped a brilliant cross-crease pass from Owen Fussey into the net. Brouillette then scored his second of the night and third in two games when he finished a series of passes from Hanson and Ralph at the 8:50 mark.

The Inferno took a commanding 5-0 lead 4:37 into the final frame when Kris Sparre netted his first professional goal, launching the puck into the top of the net after a cross-slot pass from Jeremy Hall. Columbia was barely finished celebrating when, 30 seconds later, Chad Painchaud deflected a Joe Grimaldi shot past Todd Ford to end the shutout bid. The Gladiators attempted to make a game of it when, at 5:34 of the third, Matt Anderson deked Ford to the ice and scored to trim the Inferno lead to 5-2. Ford and the Inferno regained their composure and shut down the Gladiators for the rest of the game to seal the victory.

Ford finished with 27 saves on 29 shots, while Turple stopped 27 of 32.

With the victory, the Inferno have slid into the fifth slot in the South Division standings. The Inferno's postseason slate fully depends on the outcome tomorrow night when Gwinnett hosts Charlotte. If Charlotte wins, Columbia will lose their tiebreaker with the Checkers and face the Everblades as the sixth seed. If Gwinnett wins in regulation or in overtime, Columbia will face the Gladiators as the sixth seed while the Checkers face the Everblades.

2008 Kelly Cup Playoff tickets are now available by calling the Inferno office at 803.256.7825 or by logging on to columbiainferno.com.

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