Tonight, the Savannah Ghost Pirates played the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at home. Going into this second home game for the Ghost Pirates, the fans knew they could expect great things from a lot of the newer additions to the team. Joe Flemming has shown incredible physical force on defense and great shot-taking skills. Robbie Fromm-Delorme has great speed, coordination, aggression, and physicality, as well as a great overall offensive presence. Finally, Matthew Boudens, the franchise’s first-ever captain, has also shown great offensive skills and leadership. They did not disappoint tonight, as each one showed great effort and toughness in order to try their best for a win. Unfortunately, the game ended in favor of Greenville, but Savannah had great energy and work ethic throughout all 60 minutes.
Starting off on the right hand, Brent Pederson got Savannah the lead just 10 seconds into the game with a goal assisted by Robbie Fromm-Delorme and Vincent Marleau. A few shots were taken from both ends until finally, at 10:53 into the first, Greenville’s Brennan McManus scored on an assist from Anthony Beauchamp. However, the tied score would not last long as Elijah Vilio and Joe Flemming helped Vincent Marleau score and break the tie just roughly a minute later. Although the period was full of aggression and physicality, there was only one penalty given during the first period, and it went to Greenville. Shots on goal were in favor of the Georgia team 16-9.
The second period was an eventful one. However it wasn’t in the form of scoring. Not one lamp was lit, but there were two power-play opportunities for the Ghost Pirates and none for the Swamp Rabbits. While not much happened event-wise, the period did consist of a short fight between Savannah’s Flemming and Greenville’s Nick Prkusic. The period ended with an unchanged score and shots on goal resting at 26-14 Savannah.
The first period was great; the second one kind of slowed down a bit in terms of energy, but the third period was all sorts of wild. All first eight minutes of the final 20 minutes was just a bunch of toughness and shooting until at 8:25 when Greenville tied the score again. Jake Smith was able to steal a goal from Savannah, thanks to Max Martin and Brett Kemp. Just to raise the intensity, they scored again just a minute later, this time scored by Ben Freeman on an assist from Joe Leahy. Luckily for Savannah, they were able to tie the score and have another shot for the win at 16:07 when Alex Gilmour scored off of Logan Drevitch. Things were looking up for the Ghost Pirates during the game until Jake Smith scored off of Max Martin with just 20 seconds left in regulation. The Swamp Rabbits prevailed 4-3 over Savannah, but the Ghost Pirates beat them in shots on goal 32-21. Although it wasn’t the outcome that Savannah had hoped for, they still fought hard until the final buzzer sounded, and they’ll continue to do so for the rest of the season.
The Ghost Pirates play next against Greenville away on November 3.
