Photo credit: Taylor Trebotte-@atlgladiators

Glads fall to ECHL’s newest team Ghost Pirates

For the very first time the Atlanta Gladiators faced a new rivalry in a historic matchup between the ECHL’s newest team the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Sunday at Gas South Arena.

Ahead of Sunday’s match, the Gladiators was stellar on special teams to start the 2022-23 season. Kaid Oliver and Reece Vitelli provided a pair of power-play goals on Opening Night, then Mike Pelech and Vitelli bagged power-play tallies on Saturday against Florida.

 

Minutes into the inaugural meeting with the Ghost Pirates, Daniel D’Amato scored the first goal of the evening for Savannah.

The Ghost Pirates continued to assault the net as the Glads struggled during the second period. Marcus Kallionkieli extended Savannah’s lead with his first goal of the season.

Vincent Marleau buried a power-play goal to put Savannah ahead 3-0.

Paul McAvoy finally put the Glads on the board with his first goal of the season.

In the closing minutes Max Kaufman scored the final goal to seal the 4-1 victory over Atlanta.

The loss closes out a three-game opening weekend.

Darion Hanson finished the game with 46 saves on 47 shots for Savannah while Tyler Parks suffered his first defeat of the season with 31 saves on 35 shots.

Up Next: The Atlanta Gladiators (1-2-0-0) head to Orlando to face the Solar Bears on Sunday Oct 30. Puck drops at 3:00 PM.