The Greenville Road Warriors lost to the Gwinnett Gladiators in a defensive struggle at the BI-LO Center on Sunday night. The 2-1 loss ended the Road Warriors‘ eight-game home winning streak.
The Road Warriors and Gladiators defenses and goalies took control of the first period Sunday. Both teams were unable the put the puck in the back of the net as the Road Warriors outshot the Gladiators 18-9. In his first ECHL start, Greenville goalie Brian Stewart was solid in turning aside each of Gwinnett‘s shots. Greenville was 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. Marc-Olivier Vallerand had the best scoring chance of the period on a shorthanded 2-on-1 but Gwinnett’s Chris Carrozzi denied the shot from close range.
The Gladiators scored the first goal of the game at 5:30 in the second period. Michael Forney beat Stewart high glove side for his fifth goal of the season. Matt Krug and Dave Phillips assisted on the play. The Road Warriors broke through the Glads’ defense at 15:51 to tie the score at 1-1. Brendan Connolly fed Paul McIlveen who beat Carozzi with a nifty redirect for his first goal of the year. Connolly’s assist pushed his point streak to seven games. Brandon Wong had the secondary assist which gave him three assists in his last two games.
Please click here for tonight’s box score
The Road Warriors were unable to capitalize on a power play to start the third period and the score remained deadlocked. As they were trying to break the puck out of their own zone, later in the period, the Road Warriors gave it away on the left wing. Chris Poli stole the disc and slipped a pass to Pat Galivan who beat Stewart for what would be the game winner at 12:42. Greenville pulled Stewart for an extra attacker late, but was unable to tie the score. Greenville outshot the Gladiators 17-5 in the third and 41-34 for the game.
Stewart stopped 32 of 34 shots in his Road Warriors debut. Greenville was 7-for-7 on the penalty kill, but 0-for-8 on the power play.
Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors will be back on home ice Thursday, December 2 to take on the Gwinnett Gladiators at 7:05 p.m. Join us for another Dollar Draft Thursday with select fountain drinks and draught beers on sale for just $1. Great group seats are still available. Bring out your group of 10 or more to save on the box office price, receive preferred seating based on availability. For more information contact the Road Warriors at 864-674-PUCK or visit www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com.
