SAVANNAH, GA - The Atlanta Gladiators (20-37-3-1) built themselves a two-goal lead, but four-straight goals from the Savannah Ghost Pirates, (23-31-4-1) made the difference, as the Gladiators lost by a 6-3 score Thursday evening at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia.
First Star: Jordan Kaplan (SAV) - 1 goal, 1 assist
Second Star: Pat Guay (SAV) - 2 goals, 1 assist
Third Star: Simon Pinard (SAV) - 1 goal, 2 assists
The Gladiators opened the scoring for the second night in a row, jumping out to a 1-0 lead just past the midway mark of the first period (11:11). Carson Gicewicz blasted a shot from the point that tipped off the glove of Michael Marchesan, notching his 11th goal of the season.
Atlanta would double their lead early in the second period to make it 2-0 (3:09). Mitch Walinski capped off a nice passing play for his seventh goal of the year.
Savannah cut the Gladiators lead in half just over a minute later, with Pat Guay netting his ninth goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game (4:40).
Simon Pinard scored just two-minutes later, recording his 19th goal of the year, tying the score at 2. (7:07).
Ross Armour (8th) scored early in the third period to give Savannah their first lead of the night, 3-2 (2:30).
Jordan Kaplan (14th) doubled Savannah’s lead to 4-2 with a laser from the left circle (9:44).
Atlanta pulled within a goal just two-minutes later to cut their deficit to 4-3, with a power play goal (11:18). Jackson Pierson jumped on a Robert Calisti rebound, finding his 14th goal of the year.
Pat Guay’s second goal of the night, and tenth of the season, renewed Savannah’s two-goal lead, to make it a 5-3 game (13:43).
Logan Drevitch (18th) sealed the game for the Ghost Pirates, just over a minute later, wiring a shot into the net, potting his 18th goal of the season to put his team up for good, 6-3 (15:04).
Jordan Papirny made 26 saves in the victory for Savannah, meanwhile Gustavs Davis Grigals turned aside 32 shots in the loss for Atlanta.
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