Gladiators Put Up Season-High Seven Goals in First Game of Three-in-Three Against Jacksonville

The Atlanta Gladiators exploded for a season-high seven goals on Friday night, defeating the Jacksonville Icemen 7-2 in the first game of a three-in-three weekend. Five different Gladiators recorded multi-point nights as Atlanta extended its winning streak to four games, improving to 13-4 on the season.

Coming off back-to-back overtime wins against Greenville at home, the Gladiators hit the road ready to assert themselves. T.J. Semptimphelter got the start in net for Atlanta, while Jacksonville turned to Scott Ratzlaff.

Louis Boudon wasted no time setting the tone, scoring just 1:02 into the first period from Chad Nychuk and Isak Walther to give Atlanta an early 1-0 lead. Later in the period, a “too many men” penalty on Atlanta sent Jacksonville to the man advantage—but it was the Gladiators who struck twice shorthanded in just over a minute. Joey Cipollone scored from Carson Denomie at 3:48 left, followed by Ethan Scardina’s first professional goal from Ryan Nolan and Ryan Conroy, putting Atlanta up 3-0. Jacksonville finally answered 1:09 later with an unassisted tally from Kolby Johnson to make it 3-1 before the period ended.

The second period saw only one goal, but it was another crucial strike for Atlanta. On the power play, Isak Walther fired a one-timer from the left circle, assisted by Boudon and Alex Young, to make it 4-1. The goal marked the Gladiators’ third straight game with a power-play goal, their longest streak this season.

Atlanta kept up the pressure in the third. Boudon scored his second goal of the night, assisted by Nychuk and Cody Sylvester, extending the lead to 5-1. Brody Crane got one back for Jacksonville at 7:13, but Sylvester and Mike McNamee added late goals to seal the 7-2 final score. Semptimphelter stopped 31 of 33 shots for the win, while Ratzlaff made 5 saves on 8 shots and Michael Bullion finished with 16 of 20 stops for the Icemen.

Louis Boudon finished with 2 goals and 2 assists, extending his point streak to five games (3g, 7a). Isak Walther added 1 goal and 2 assists, also on a five-game streak (3g, 4a). Chad Nychuk contributed 2 assists, extending his streak to four games (1g, 5a), and Alex Young added an assist to reach a three-game point streak (2g, 2a). Atlanta scored two shorthanded goals, went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, and 2-for-4 on the power play.

The Gladiators and Icemen meet again Saturday night in Jacksonville at 7:00 PM, before heading home for Max’s Holiday Party on Sunday at 3:00 PM in Duluth. Fans can enjoy Sing for Santa, Jambo’s PJ toss, and the first 1,500 in attendance will receive a Gladiators ornament courtesy of Bare Bones Steakhouse.