(DULUTH, Ga.) – Keaton Mastrodonato tried to spark a comeback with a second goal in as many games for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits power play unit, but the Atlanta Gladiators second period cushion held strong, thanks to Ryan Francis’ three-assist performance, powering them to a 3-1 win on Sunday afternoon.
Just like last night, both teams left the first period without a goal to speak of. Mattias Sholl, manning the Swamp Rabbits net, denied 15 Gladiators shots, while Ethan Haider across the way from him kept out 11 of the Swamp Rabbits. Unlike last night, the Gladiators struck first early in the second with two fast goals. Ryan Francis got things started for Atlanta 2:09, circling around the Swamp Rabbits net to the slot area. His shot banked off of Joey Cipollone and past Sholl, giving the Gladiators a 1-0 lead. Exactly 73 seconds later, and on their first power play, Atlanta doubled the lead thanks to Ryan Nolan, who buried a Francis pass from the slot to make it 2-0 at 3:22 (Francis and Nolan Orzeck assisted). Francis then created Atlanta’s third goal on a long stretch pass that connected on the opposite blue line with Cipollone. He dropped it on the left to Carson Denomie, who rifled a shot past Sholl’s glove to expand the Gladiators lead to 3-0. Keaton Mastrodonato ended the Atlanta scoring run with 17.6 seconds left in the period, wiring a wrist shot from the right past Haider on the power play to cut the deficit to 3-1 (Josh Atkinson and Ryan O’Hara assisted). Again like the previous game’s counterpart, neither could best eachother in the third, leading to a 3-1 Gladiators win, forcing a rubber match in the finale tomorrow afternoon.
Mattias Sholl suffered the loss, turning away 38 shots out of a barrage of 41 on his net (5-7-2-0).
The Swamp Rabbits conclude their three-game series against the Gladiators tomorrow afternoon, January 19th. Puck drop at Gas South Arena is slated for 1:10 p.m. EST.
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