ATLANTA PULLS AWAY FROM SWAMP RABBITS IN THE THIRD PERIOD 
Cipollone’s pair of goals and Sylvester’s and Young’s pair of assists help Gladiators take Saturday night

(DULUTH, Ga.) – Dante Sheriff tied the game late in the second period for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, but Ryan Nolan’s strike at 3:04 of the third and Joey Cipollone’s second not too long after gave the Atlanta Gladiators enough separation to claim a 4-2 win on Saturday night.

Cam Hausinger broke a three-way deadlock for the team’s goal-scoring lead late in the first period, giving the Swamp Rabbits an advantage heading into the dressing room. Following the expiration of a power play with 2:27 left, Hudson Schandor, parallel with the goal line, fired a hot pass to Hausinger, who tapped it in back door past Gladiators goalie Ethan Haider to give the team a 1-0 advantage (Schandor and Atkinson assisted).

The Gladiators fired back twice in under a minute to claim a lead, but were equalized before the third. Mike McNamee got the Gladiators on the board at 9:12 of the second, firing a puck from behind the net that deflected off a stick, over the net, off of Pierce Charleson’s back, and in, tying the game at 1-1 (Cody Sylvester had the lone assist). Exactly 49 seconds later, Joey Cipollone fired home his first of two when he slapped home a bouncing puck from the right wall that zipped past Charleson to give the Gladiators their first lead at 2-1 with 9:59 remaining (Sylvester and Anthony Firriolo assisted). Towards the end of the period, Tristan De Jong collected a turnover inside the attacking blue line and rifled a shot from distance that was originally stopped by Haider. It produced a rebound, for Dante Sheriff to slam home goals in back-to-back games, squaring the game at 2-2 with 5:22 left in the second.

Atlanta broke the ice quickly in the third and ran with their insurance to the win. At 3:04 of the final period, McNamee, again creating from behind the net, found Ryan Nolan streaking toward the right circle. Nolan managed to slip the puck past Charleson in the shuffle, pushing Atlanta to a 3-2 lead (McNamee and Alex Young assisted). Exactly 2:36 later, Joey Cipollone got his second when he collected the puck off of a faceoff and immediately sent the puck on net, squeaking past Charleson to double Atlanta’s lead to 4-2 at 5:40 of the third (Young assisted). The Swamp Rabbits couldn’t muster any momentum to tie the game despite pulling Charleson for the extra skater late, with Atlanta taking a 4-2 win.

Pierce Charleson suffered the defeat, stopping 28 of 32 shots (2-2-0-0).

The Swamp Rabbits continue their four-game road swing with their first-ever matchup against the Greensboro Gargoyles. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST at First Horizon Coliseum on Wednesday, November 26^th.

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About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team have been providing family friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest-level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's LA Kings and the AHL's Ontario Reign. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.