ROAD WARRIORS SLAY GLADIATORS 

VERSUS  

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors did not let an early setback derail them on Tuesday night and roared back for a 7-1 win over the Gwinnett Gladiators at the BI-LO Center. The win improved Greenville’s record to 33-20-2 on the season.

The Road Warriors were playing their fourth game in five days tonight while the Gladiators had been off since last Saturday. Greenville, though, looked like the fresher team in the first period and dictated play for a majority of the frame. Ultimately, the bounces didn’t go their way in the opening 20 minutes as Gwinnett goalie Edward Pasquale denied each of the 12 shots he faced. Cameron Talbot, who was reassigned by the New York Rangers to Greenville from the Connecticut Whale earlier this week, made his first ever ECHL start and allowed only Pat Galivan’s goal at 12:54 of the first. Galivan’s spinning backhander appeared to deflect off of a body in front of the net and past Talbot to the glove side. The goal was Galivan’s 10th of the season.

That goal only seemed to inspire the Road Warriors to work harder in the second period, and their efforts were rewarded with four goals. Brandon Wong began the onslaught with his 18th goal of the season 1:29 into the period.

Wong’s goal, assisted by Connor Shields and T.J. Reynolds, tied Marc Olivier-Vallerand for the team lead. Shortly after, Gwinnett’s Akim Aliu found himself on a breakaway with a chance to re-take the lead. Talbot stood his ground, stoning Aliu and Gwinnett’s best scoring opportunity of the period. Feeding off the energy provided by Talbot’s save, the Road Warriors quickly asserted themselves on offense scoring a pair of goals within 30 seconds to take a two-goal advantage. Vallerand, apparently not happy with losing the team lead in goals, took it upon himself to break the tie and give the Road Warriors a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Taking a feed from Chris Clackson, Vallerad one-timed it past Pasquale for his 19th of the season. Sean Berkstresser had the second assist on the goal. Sometimes when it rains it pours, and Vallerand’s goal opened the flood gates when only 30 seconds later, Brad Cole picked up his 2nd goal of the season, slipping the puck past Pasquale and extending the lead to two. Not to be outdone by his fellow defenseman, Wes Cunningham scored with just over four minutes remaining in the period to push the Road Warriors lead to three. Chris Chappell and Wong picked up assists on the goal. Wong’s second assist of the night pushed his point to total to three through the first two periods. Gwinnett ended the second period on the power play after the Road Warriors Reynolds was hit with a double minor for high sticking. Gwinnett was unable to take advantage of the extra attacker as the Road Warriors defense was solid down the stretch.

Unlike the Road Warriors in the second, Gwinnett came out with a power play opportunity to start the third but Greenville shut them down. Greenville’s offensive barrage kept on rolling into the third and for the second time on the night, they scored two goals within 30 seconds. Shane Harper slipped a shot from the slot past Pasquale for his 13th goal of the season and upped the lead to 5-1. Cunningham and Mark Voakes assisted on the goal. Vallerand added his second goal and Cunningham picked up his second assist of the night only 21 seconds later. Berkstresser continued the Road Warriors scoring fest at 9:18, punching the puck past Pasquale to give Greenville seven unanswered goals. Wong and Trevor Glass notched assists on the goal. Wong’s third assist of the night was his fourth point overall, giving him the second Road Warriors four-point effort this season. The Road Warriors shut down Gwinnett for the rest of the period to extend their record 16-0-0 when allowing one goal or less.

Talbot was shined in his first game as a Road Warrior as he turned aside 25 of 26 shots for his first win of the season. Greenville was 0-for-6 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

Mark your calendars! The Road Warriors will return home to the BI-LO Center to battle the Trenton Devils on Friday, March 4 at 7:05 p.m. In conjunction with SHINE 96.7, the Road Warriors will be presenting “Church Night 2011” with a live, post-game performance from recording artists MyCalvary. Tickets for church groups start as low as $7.  The SPINX Friday Family Four-Pack is also available for that game through the BI-LO Center Box Office and gets you four tickets, four hot dogs, four pretzels, four bags of chips, four fountain drinks for $48! For more information on these promotions and more contact a Road Warriors sales representative at 864-674-PUCK.