GREENVILLE, SC – As part of their summer countdown of the top moments of their inaugural season in the ECHL, the Greenville Road Warriors unveiled, today, moment number seven on the list.
A mere 119 miles of Interstate 85 separate the Greenville Road Warriors and Gwinnett Gladiators. That proximity, and the back and forth nature of their season series, created a fierce rivalry between the two South Division clubs. The Gladiators took two of the first three meetings between the teams over the month of November, but Greenville roared back to go 4-0-0 against Gwinnett in December. The combined score over those four games? Seventeen to three in favor of Greenville, including one shutout. Things turned dramatically, however, in early January as Gwinnett reeled off three wins in consecutive days against the Road Warriors.
The Road Warriors were tasked with changing that on January 14 at the BI-LO
Center, but got into trouble by giving up a pair of goals in the first 2:17 of the contest. Greenville’s offense awoke later in the frame and produced three goals in the first to ensure that the teams went into the first intermission with the score tied (Gwinnett added a third goal on the power play). Two of the Road Warriors’ goals came from rookie sniper Brandon Wong and set the stage for Top Moment Number Seven in the second period. Gwinnett had taken a 4-3 lead at 2:17 of the second, but Chris McKelvie tied the score just past the midway point. Then, with a delayed penalty forthcoming, Wong made Road Warriors history.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4LjrwPFt6E]
Greenville went on to fall 8-6 in the highest scoring game of the season despite Wong’s history-making offensive night. No other Road Warrior could match the three-goal feat over the rest of the season, and Wong’s hat trick stands as the highest single-game goal output by a Road Warrior. Will that change next season? You’ll have to be there in person to find out.
Road Warriors season tickets are on sale right now. To receive the best discount on tickets, reserve the same great seat for the entire season, and take advantage of other great benefits call 864-674-PUCK (7825) to order your season tickets today. Season tickets start as low as $300 and can be reserved with a $100 deposit.
