SAVANNAH, Ga. The Atlanta Gladiators (33-26-6-1) staged a late-game comeback after trailing 4-0, but came up just short as they fell to the Savannah Ghost Pirates (24-30-9-1) by a score of 4-3 on Friday night at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia.
First Star: Daniel D’Amito (SAV) - 2 goals
Second Star: Mike Pelech (ATL) - 1 goal
Third Star: Vincent Marleau (SAV) - 1 goal, 1 assist
The Savannah Ghost Pirates opened the scoring as they grabbed an early 1-0 lead (2:15).
Savannah doubled their lead late in the first period to make the score 2-0 (15:08).
The Ghost Pirates extended their lead in the second period as they pulled ahead 3-0 (8:53).
Just past the midway point of the second period Savannah made it a 4-0 game (12:46).
Atlanta got on the board late in the middle frame to make the score 4-1 (18:32). Mitch Walinski knocked home the puck off a scramble in front of the net for his fourth of the season.
The Gladiators’ cut Savannah’s lead in half early during the third period to trail 4-2 (3:58). Derek Topatigh fired a shot from the point and it was tipped in front of the Ghost Pirates’ net by Mike Pelech for his 15th marker of the season.
Atlanta made it a one-goal game midway through the third period as they scored to make it 4-3 (10:17). Gabe Guertler took a feed from Dylan Carabia and shot it home for his 16th goal of the season.
The Gladiators pulled goaltender Tyler Harmon late in the third period in favor of the extra attacker, but to no avail as the score remained 4-3.
Michael Bullion made 30 saves on 33 shots in the win for Savannah, while Tyler Harmon made 32 saves on 36 shots in the loss for Atlanta.