ESTERO, FLA – A late-game effort came to fruition for the Everblades on Wednesday night as Bobo Carpenter, Jake Jaremko and Kody McDonald combined goals in the third period to defeat the Atlanta Gladiators in the series opener at Hertz Arena. 
The Everblades saw countless looks in front of Gladiators netminder Tyler Parks in the first period, but they weren’t able to push any opportunities across the goal line as the scoreboard read 0-0 at the buzzer. Florida had the edge in shots on net 11-9 heading into the second portion of action and they were 0-for-2 on the power play.
Atlanta’s Cody Sylvester finally started the scoring in the game, sniping a shot off the crossbar of Devin Cooley and into the net with 2:03 remaining in the second period. The goal was shorthanded and was assisted by Mike Pelech to lift the Gladiators to a 1-0 advantage at the second intermission.
Florida gave their response early in the third period when Carpenter
(1:46) scooped up a loose puck on the back door and tapped in his second goal of the season with the Everblades. The mark came seven seconds on a power play and featured helpers from Jake McLaughlin and Blake Winiecki who extended his point streak to eight games. Jaremko pushed the Everblades in front 2-1 with a strike from the far post at 8:55 of the final frame, which ultimately became the game-winning goal.
With a tripping penalty called on McDonald with 2:34 to spare in regulation, the Gladiators swarmed the attacking zone for one last push, but McDonald received a pass straight out of the penalty box to pot an empty net goal and hold off the Gladiators by a 3-1 final score. The win raised the Everblades’ record to 12-6-2-3 and placed Atlanta at 10-10-2-0. Cooley claimed the victory in his first appearance with the Everblades this season after denying 23 of 24 shots.
The Everblades and Gladiators will meet again for the second matchup of this three-game series on Friday, December 17th at Hertz Arena.
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