Icy Win for Atlanta Gladiators

After falling to the Swamp Rabbits 3-2 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday the Glads returned home and beat the Swamp Rabbits 4-2 in front of a crowd of 4,500 fans on Sunday at Gas South Arena.

#GLADSWIN pic.twitter.com/BjM29onWPK

— Atlanta Gladiators (@atlgladiators) April 3, 2022

Game Recap: Glads rookie Peter Bates scored a goal early in the opening minutes assisted by Malcolm Hayes and Zach Yoder. Atlanta took a 2-0 lead less than three minutes later when Hugo Roy netted a breakaway, marking his 20^th goal of the season.

RIP to the water bottle 🪦

Hugo Roy gives the Glads a 2-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/PlRfBGkXKi

— Atlanta Gladiators (@atlgladiators) April 3, 2022

Midway through the second period Derek Topatigh landed a shot into the back of the net.

TOPES WITH A SNIPE 🎯 pic.twitter.com/pMOvDdobOh

— Atlanta Gladiators (@atlgladiators) April 3, 2022

Swamp Rabbits Anthony Rinaldi scored their first goal of the day assisted by Ethan Somaza.

Late in the second period, Eric Neiley scored to make it a 4-1 advantage in favor of Atlanta.

the beautiful game pic.twitter.com/HFgKpdRXht

— Atlanta Gladiators (@atlgladiators) April 3, 2022

Just three minutes later, Greenville made it 4-2 when Justin Nachbaur scored. A minute later, the Swamp Rabbits cut the lead down to 4-3 after Nachbaur scored his second goal of the game.

In the end the Gladiators outshot the Swamp Rabbits 36-27 in the contest and Atlanta goaltender Joe Murdaca finished the afternoon with 24 saves on 27 shots.

On Friday Atlanta clinched a spot in the 2022 Kelly Cup playoffs with a win against Greenville. The Glads had missed the playoffs in five out of the last six seasons (not including 2019-20 ) and had not been to the post season since 2017-2019 under Chuck Webber.

Up Next: The Gladiators will return back to home ice on Wednesday night to face the Florida Everblades. The puck drops at 7:00 pm.