DULUTH, GA – Between the Atlanta Gladiators and Jacksonville Icemen, the teams had played in a combined total of three games that ended in a 1-0 final score. The Gladiators had lost to Orlando on November in a 1-0 overtime final. The Icemen had played a pair of 1-0 contests, both against South Carolina, in a span of three weeks – a loss to the Stingrays on January 1st and an overtime win on January 22nd.
Friday night, they played yet another of those edge of your seat 1-0 contests against each other and this time Atlanta came out on top.
Kameron Nault’s first goal of the season early in the second period was the only score of the night as the Gladiators came away with the one-goal shutout at Gas South Arena. Gladiators goalie Chris Nell made the lone score stand up, stopping all 28 Icemen shots to out duel Francois Brassard who turned away 20 of 21 chances by Atlanta.
The first period was twenty minutes that were short on penalty minutes and shots on net. There were just two infractions whistled, both of them against the visiting Icemen. Atlanta was not able to record any shots on Brassard, finishing the frame with a total of seven. Jacksonville was even more offensively challenged, putting a mere four on Nell.
The Icemen upped their game in the second, dominating the stanza from start to finish. Jacksonville put 18 shots on the Gladiators cage but Nell stood on his head, stopping all of them to keep his scoresheet clean through 40 minutes.
Atlanta opened and closed the scoring for the night 5:01 into the period. Aaron Ryback saw Nault in the slot area and sent a pass his way. Nault made a spin move to get around and clear a defender, leaving him one-on-one with Brassard. Nault picked his spot and fired away, beating Brassard’s catching glove to put the Gladiators in front. Ironically, the goal came on Atlanta’s first shot of the period – a period that saw the team post only two shots on net before the second intermission came along.
The final twenty minutes began with a Gladiators penalty 59 seconds in. Atlanta did a masterful job of shutting the Jacksonville power play down, not allowing Nell to have to make even one save. They repeated the effort when the Icemen got a second man advantage at the 9:08 mark. The visitors again were thwarted by the Gladiators penalty killers, not getting a shot until the advantage was in the rear view mirror.
From there, Atlanta’s defense stifled Jacksonville’s offense. In the final eight minutes of regulation, the Icemen were limited to only two shots on Nell – one by Austin McEneny at 12:10 and the other by Derek Lodermeier in the final minute. In between, Brassard kept his team in the game by making six saves to maintain the one-goal deficit. The crowd of 3,582 stood and cheered Nell and his teammates as the final buzzer sounded.
The two teams will have Saturday off before meeting again on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Duluth.
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