Savannah, GA – The Savannah Ghost Pirates defeated the Atlanta Gladiators 3-1 at Enmarket Arena on Saturday night. Nicholas Zabaneh buried the game winning goal shorthanded with 6:55 left in regulation for Savannah.
The Gladiators and Ghost Pirates met for the third time this week, after Savannah won 3-0 on Sunday at Enmarket Arena, and the Gladiators 7-4 on Tuesday at Gas South Arena. Ethan Haider started in net for the Gladiators while Noah Giesbrecht was the starter for Savannah.
Both teams opened the game with power plays in the beginning five minutes but were unable to cash in. Atlanta got a second opportunity on the man advantage midway through the opening frame but came up empty handed again. Austin Roest opened the scoring with 4:42 to play in the first, flagging down an outlet pass from Phip Waugh and taking it from forehand to backhand for his second goal in his second game as a Gladiator. Roest’s goal was the only score of the first period, as Atlanta led 1-0 after one.
The Gladiators had two more opportunities on the power play in the opening ten minutes of the second period, but once again, were unable to score. Savannah tied the game with 8:52 left in the period as Tristan Amonte took the puck off of a failed clearing attempt from Haider and put it into the net. Savannah surged with momentum to end the period, but Haider made timely saves to keep the puck out of the net.
In the third period, Savannah did not back down. They peppered Haider with shots, outshooting the Gladiators 18-6 in the final period. The Ghost Pirates did have two opportunities on the power play but the Gladiators were up to the task and were able to kill off both. Atlanta had a power play late in the final moments of the period with a chance to take the lead, but instead coughed up the puck and surrendered a shorthanded goal to Nicholas Zabaneh with 6:55 to play. The Gladiators would not be able to overcome this as Zabaneh buried an empty netter with 48 seconds to go to seal the deal at 3-1 for Savannah.
Haider gave the Gladiators a chance to win, making a career high 44 saves on 46 shots. Atlanta went 0/5 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill in the loss. Giesbrecht stopped 23/24 for Savannah.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Gladiators as they head to Greensboro, NC to take on the Gargoyles at First Horizon Coliseum at 3 PM on Sunday afternoon. Coverage begins at 2:40 PM on the Gladiators Broadcast Network on FloHockey and YouTube.
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