Crustaceans Fend Off Late Twin City Rally to Complete Sweep

Crustaceans Fend Off Late Twin City Rally to Complete Sweep

ATHENS, GA. - The Athens Rock Lobsters held on to defeat the Twin City Thunderbirds 7-6 Sunday afternoon, completing a sweep of the three-in-three.

After they found themselves down 2-0 in the first period last night, Athens wasted no time in starting the scoring on Sunday. Jesse Lowell rifled in a shot from the right dot with just four minutes gone in the first.

Dustin Perillat did it all himself at the 10:11 mark, converting a takeaway into a finish to make it 2-0.

Lowell secured his second of the night on a redirect of a Jonathan Bartuccio-Pereira shot. Athens scored the 3-0 goal with an extra attacker after a delayed penalty against Twin City.

Thunderbirds would get one back before the first intermission, with Kayson Gallant putting in his own rebound with less than five minutes left.

The Lobsters continued to find a higher gear in the second period, and John Kaljian scored his first home goal as an Athens player beautifully.

Gallant gave the visitors a boost before the second intermission, scoring his second of the game and offering a preview of what was to come.

Three-straight goals from Twin City at the start of the third period made it a one-goal game with half the final frame to play; tallies from Nate Keeley, Dominic Dumas and Gallant to complete the hat trick, gave life to the visitors in what remained. 

The game winner came from John Kaljian with a wicked wrister to restore the multi-goal lead; it was needed, as Gallant scored his fourth of the night against his former team. 

Ultimately, the Thunderbirds thundered back too late to tie the game up and Athens would extend its unbeaten run to seven games. 

The Rock Lobsters (31-8-7-0, 107 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena on Tuesday, March 17 for a clash at the top of the Continental Division against the Monroe Moccasins. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. and tickets can be found here.