Gladiators Take Down Stingrays 5-2, Earn Statement Win on the Road

By Guy Chiarenza

Press Release

The Atlanta Gladiators defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at North Charleston Coliseum. Mike McNamee (2g, 2a), Ben Strinden (1g, 3a) and Austin Roest (1g, 2a) led the way for the Gladiators as they handed the Stingrays their first loss of the season.

After a 4-3 overtime loss in Jacksonville on Saturday, the Gladiators continued on to North Charleston for their fourth game of the road trip and the first meeting with the Stingrays since their playoff series a season ago. T.J. Semptimphelter started in net for the Gladiators, while Garin Bjorklund started in net for the Stingrays.

Atlanta wasted no time finding the back of the net, with Ben Strinden hitting twine 57 seconds in. Strinden fired a rocket from the high slot from Austin Roest and Mike McNamee to get the scoring started. After that, Semptimphelter faced a barrage of shots from the Stingrays, who outshot the Gladiators 18-7 in the first period. The second year netminder was ready for the challenge, helping Atlanta keep a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Both sides went 0/1 on the power play in the opening frame.

The Stingrays broke through in the second period, scoring two goals in 39 seconds to take a 2-1 lead. Cam Morrison scored with a sneaky shot from the right circle 5:35 into the period from Rhett Parsons and Luke Prokop to make it 2-1. Then it was Kyle Jackson on a breakaway from Alex Gaffney and Prokop making it 2-1 South Carolina. The Stingrays outshot the Gladiators 7-5 in the second period. Both teams went 0/1 on the power play in the second frame.

The Gladiators remained resilient and caught fire in the third period. Roest buried his second of the year from Strinden and McNamee to tie the game up at 2-2 just 2:57 into the period. Atlanta began to buzz and was able to slide in another goal to take the lead with 8:10 to play. Roest won a faceoff to Strinden who put a shot on goal, the rebound went right to McNamee who scored his second of the season to make it a 3-2 game. With 6:39 on the clock, Branden Troock fired in his first of the season on a breakaway to make it 4-2 Atlanta. Following another successful penalty kill, McNamee buried an empty netter from Owen Murray and Strinden with 1:57 to play to end the Stingrays’ chances of a comeback and seal a 5-2 win.

T.J. Semptimphelter stopped 32/34 for his first win of the season, while Mike McNamee (2g, 2a), Ben Strinden (1g, 3a) and Austin Roest (1g, 2a) had their best games of the season. Atlanta went 0/2 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill in the win, improving its record to 2-4-1.

The road trip’s next stop is in Orlando on Tuesday morning when the Gladiators meet the Orlando Solar Bears at 10:30 AM. Fans can watch the action live on FloHockey at flohockey.tv, or listen in on the Gladiators YouTube channel.