COMEBACK COMES UP SHORT FOR WARRIORS 

VERSUS

DULUTH, GA – The Greenville Road Warriors erased a two-goal defecit in the third period on Friday night in Gwinnett, but gave up the winning goal late in the final frame and fell by a 4-3 score on Friday night. The loss dropped Greenville’s record to 23-9-2 on the season.

The Road Warriors fell victim to a fluky goal that gave Gwinnett a 1-0 advantage early on in the first period. An intended point pass from Mark Voakes was tipped over the head of T.J. Reynolds and the puck lofted into the Greenville zone. Gwinnett’s Tim Miller arrived at the puck first and absorbed a heavy check by Reynolds. Still with the disc, Miller walked to the front along the goal line and banked a shot off of Nic Riopel and into the net at 2:46. Greenville recovered from the early blow and registered 11 shots on goal during the first, including three separate breakaways by Chris McKelvie (2) and Connor Shields (1). The Road Warriors forwards could not solve Gwinnett goalie Chris Carrozzi and the rookie’s efforts allowed Gwinnett to grab a 2-0 lead before the period expired. Aaron Bendickson fed Michael Forney on a 2-on-1 for a wrist shot that beat Riopel to the blocker side at 14:25 of the first.

In the second period, Shields made sure he didn’t miss out on his second breakaway opportunity and drew the Road Warriors within one. Sam Klassen sent a perfect pass to Shields at the Gwinnett blueline and the second-year forward raced in alone on Carrozzi. Shields used a deke to the forehand to find some open net to Carrozzi’s blocker side and scored his eighth goal of the season at 3:53 of the second. The Road Warriors were unable to strike the tying blow in the second and fell back down by two on Miller’s second goal of the night. He backhanded a perfect shot past Riopel to the glove side at 16:52 to restore Gwinnett’s two-goal lead. With 10 seconds remaining in the second Mark Voakes took a high stick from Paul Flache and earned a four-minute power play that carried over to the third period.

Greenville couldn’t score in the first half of the double minor, but with just over a minute and a half Chris Chappell took a feed on the left wing from Mark Voakes and fed a wrist shot through Carrozzi’s pads to pull Greenville within one. Chappell’s fourth goal of the season came with just 2:14 gone by in the third. Next up was Shields who came open on the left wing after beating Flache with a great individual effort. Working from the low left wing Shields cut to the front of the net and beat Carrozzi with a backhanded shot to tie the game at the 3:45 mark. The Road Warriors continued to battle for the go-ahead goal but it didn’t come. A faceoff win in their own zone started Gwinnett on the winning rush late in the frame. Pat Galivan won the draw forward to a speeding Miller. From the left wing he sent a pass cross ice to Forney who tapped it past Riopel at 13:52 for the game winner.

Riopel turned aside 24 shots in sustaining the loss. The Road Warriors went 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors return to home ice on Thursday, January 13 to take on the Florida Everblades at 7:05 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. Be sure to arrive early because The Piedmont Boys will be playing a pre-game concert beginning at 6:00 p.m. on the BI-LO Center concourse. You’ll want to stick around for another Dollar Drink Thursday with select draught beers and fountain drinks on sale for just $1! If you have a group of 10 or more that wants to attend the game call 864-674-PUCK to speak to a Road Warriors group sales representative. Groups enjoy discounts off of the box office price, preferred seating based on availability, and other great benefits.