DULUTH -- Jeff Campbell scored his third goal in the last four games and added an assist and the Gladiators battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game at three, but it wasn't enough as the Gladiators fell to the Columbia Inferno by a 4-3 margin in a shootout Sunday afternoon at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. With the shootout loss, Gwinnett falls to 28-13-5 on the season.
The game was delayed for an hour and forty-five minutes due to bus problems for Columbia.
Columbia got the scoring started at the 11:47 mark of the first period with a power play goal from Jeff Miles. Miles took a centering feed from Jeremy Hall and flicked a shot towards the Gwinnett net that slipped under Gwinnett goaltender Craig Kowalski's leg for the Columbia marker. Hall as well as Anthony Battaglia picked up assists on the goal.
The Inferno pushed their lead to two just over a minute later with a goal from Owen Fussey. Reid Cashman got the assist on the even-strength goal at the 12:53 mark of the opening period.
Neither team could manage any more scoring in the first period. On the period, the Inferno out-shot Gwinnett by a 16-4 margin, with that total of four shots tying the fewest shots the Gladiators have managed in a period this season.
Columbia struck again in the second period at the 6:58 mark with an even-strength goal from Jeremy Hall. Hall camped in the slot, took a pas from Owen Fussey from behind the Gwinnett net and beat Kowalski for the marker to punch the Columbia lead to three. Fussey got the only assist on the goal which made the score 3-0.
The Gladiators finally got on the board at the 14:46 point in the third period on an even-strength goal from Matt Anderson. Anderson took a pass from Mike Hamilton around the Columbia blue line and walked into the Inferno's zone. Anderson deked left drawing Columbia's goaltender Ford out of position and tucked the puck into the right corner of the net for the marker to cut Gwinnett's deficit to 2. Hamilton and Ryan Mahrle picked up assists on the goal, Anderson's eighth of the season with Gwinnett.
Gwinnett cut their deficit even more with just over a minute left in the second period. Jeff Campbell's thirteenth goal of the season cut the Columbia lead to 3-2 at the 18:46 mark of the second period. After Brad Schell pulled a puck off the boards at the right wing circle, Jon Sitko fired a slap shot that rebounded off Columbia goalie Ford's pads. Campbell collected the rebound and jammed it home for the marker. Schell and Sitko picked up assists on the goal.
The Gladiators pulled even just over a minute into the third period on Tomas Pospisil's tenth goal of the season. Skating into the Columbia zone, Jeff Campbell fired a rink-wide pass along the blue line for Pospisil who skated to the right wing circle and fired a shot past Columbia's Ford for the marker. Campbell picked up the only assist on the goal which knotted the score at three at the 1:38 mark.
The three-three tie held for the rest of the third period and the teams skated into overtime. Both teams skated through the overtime without a score and forced a shootout. Columbia won the shootout in four rounds by a margin of three goals to one to take the victory.
Craig Kowalski made 28 saves in the contest. His record falls to 17-5-0-2 with the shootout loss.
The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Wednesday, February 13th as they travel to Johnstown to take on the Chiefs at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the play-by-play action in Wednesday's game online via AccessNorthGa.com.
Wednesday
April 30th, 2025
8:53PM
