Savannah, GA – The Savannah Ghost Pirates defeated the Atlanta Gladiators 4-2 at Enmarket Arena on Sunday afternoon in the final meeting of the season between the two in-state rivals. 

After their big shootout win over Jacksonville the night prior, the Gladiators looked to keep a firm grip on second place in the division with a win in Savannah. The Ghost Pirates, who had locked up the fourth seed in the South Division playoff race, looked to spoil the Gladiators plans. T.J. Semptimphelter started in net for Atlanta, while Evan Cormier made his first start in goal for Savannah since January 31^st.

The Gladiators had an opportunity on the power play 17 seconds into the game, but were unable to convert. Scoring chances were limited to start, with the Gladiators not registering their first shot on goal until around 12 minutes into the period. Eventually, a turnover led to the opening score from Savannah, as a cross-ice feed from Reece Vitelli hit Riley Hughes for the score 7:34 in. Hughes goal would end up being the only goal in the first period, despite the Gladiators having a prime chance with Ryan Conroy on a breakaway fresh off of a penalty kill late in the period. The shot from the defenseman went wide and the first period finished with the Ghost Pirates up 1-0 and leading the shot count 7-6.

Atlanta had a promising start to the second period, hemming Savannah in it’s own zone for the first few shifts of the period, generating a goal because of it. Eric Neiley and Cody Sylvester were able to pinball a bouncing puck to Joey Cipollone in front of the net, who was able to swipe it in for his 16^th goal of the season. Cipollone’s tally came 2:17 into the period and made it a 1-1 game. The Gladiators had two power plays in the moments afterward to try and take the lead but came up empty handed. The Ghost Pirates then worked the puck in deep and sprung a centering feed from the end wall to the slot for Ryan Sullivan, who made it 2-1 Savannah. Sullivan’s goal came 10:58 into the period from Liam Walsh and Nicholas Zabaneh. Almost six minutes later, Savannah added another, as a failed clearing attempt was held in by Mason Reiners and delivered in front of the net to Riley Hughes, leading to his second of the game. Hughes’ 15^th of the season came with 3:05 left in the period to make it 3-1 Savannah. The Gladiators outshot the Ghost Pirates 11-6 in the second period but trailed 3-1 after 40 minutes.

Nicholas Zabaneh extended the Savannah lead to 4-1, scoring his 7^th goal of the season series 8:08 into the third period. Cody Sylvester attempted to lead his team to a comeback, executing a steal and score in front of the Ghost Pirates net for his 19^th of the campaign to make it 4-2, but it ended up not being enough and Savannah held on to win. T.J. Semptimphelter stopped 16/20 in the loss, while Evan Cormier stopped 24/26 for Savannah. Atlanta went 0/4 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill.

The regular season concludes on April 19^th at 3:00 PM in Greenville. The Gladiators will take on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in their final game before their first-round playoff matchup against the South Carolina Stingrays. Coverage on the Gladiators Broadcast Network on FloHockey and YouTube will begin at 2:40 PM.