Savannah, GA – The Savannah Ghost Pirates defeated the Atlanta Gladiators 5-2 on Thursday morning in a school day game at Enmarket Arena. Rookie forward Hiroki Gojsic scored his first professional goal for Atlanta in the loss.

The Gladiators and Ghost Pirates met for the first time this season on Thursday morning at Enmarket Arena in Savannah’s school day game. It was the second straight 10:30 AM start for both sides, with Atlanta falling 1-0 in Orlando on Tuesday morning and Savannah 3-2 in overtime in Jacksonville. T.J. Semptimphelter started in net for Atlanta, while Vinnie Purpura got the nod for the Ghost Pirates.

Savannah came bursting out of the gate testing Semptimphelter early, with much of the play in the first period in the Gladiators’ end of the ice. Semptimphelter made a series of incredible saves for Atlanta, but Savannah put one past him to make it 1-0 with 2:36 left in the period. Phillip Tresca scored on a centering feed from Kasper Lundell for his third of the season to give the Ghost Pirates the lead. Moments later, Hiroki Gojsic was called for boarding, leading to a fight between the rookie and Will Riedell. On the ensuing power play, the Ghost Pirates scored to take a 2-0 lead. Tresca got his second of the day with a deflection in front of the net, tipping in a shot from Colton Huard. Tresca scored two goals 1:10 apart to give Savannah a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Savannah outshot Atlanta 20-5 in the first period.

Momentum swung in favor of the Gladiators in the second period as they strung together a series of good shifts in the offensive zone and put shots on goal. Atlanta scored with 6:25 left in the period and Sam Tremblay won a faceoff in the offensive zone, setting up Ben Strinden for a shot. His shot hit Mike McNamee who turned and rifled a backhand shot into the net to make it a 2-1 game. Later in the period, Andrew Jarvis fought Phillip Tresca. Atlanta outshot Savannah 14-11 in the second period.

The Ghost Pirates extended their lead to 3-1 with a power play goal from Max Dorrington 6:16 into the third period. Crisp passing found Dorrington in the slot for the score. Tresca was called for an interference penalty 9:54 into the period putting Atlanta on the power play. Savannah ended up scoring a shorthanded goal, as Tristian Amonte stole it in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway to make it 4-1 with 9:39 to play. Still on the power play, another penalty put the Gladiators on a two-man advantage, where Hiroki Gojsic scored his first professional goal. Gojsic fired a shot from the top of the right circle from Mason Ward and Ethan Strang to cut the lead to 4-2. Ward earned his first professional point with the assist. With the Gladiators pressing to get another, the Ghost Pirates’ Nick DeGrazia used his speed to drive up the right wing and to the goal for Savannah’s 5^th goal of the day. DeGrazia scored with 2:33 to play to make it a 5-2 final. 

Purpura stopped 23/25 while Semptimphelter stopped 36/41 as the Ghost Pirates outshot the Gladiators 41-25. Atlanta went 1/5 on the power play and 4/6 on the penalty kill, allowing a shorthanded goal.

The Gladiators final leg of the eight game road trip brings them to Greenville on Saturday, November 7. Puck drop is set for 7:05 PM, watch all the action live on FloHockey at flohockey.tv, or listen in on the Gladiators YouTube channel.