Today was not only St. Patrick’s Day, but it was also a Sunday afternoon matchup between the Savannah Ghost Pirates and South Carolina Stingrays. The Stingrays came from Charleston and took the win 6 – 4. Savannah’s Brent Pederson got two goals this afternoon, and Simon Pinard got his 20th goal of the season. The Stingrays got two goals in the first period, three in the second, and one final goal in the third, which happened to be an empty net goal.
The first two goals were scored by Austin Magera and Jacob Hudson. Late into the first period, Savannah managed to avoid a shutout period, thanks to Brent Pederson scoring right off the face-off. The first period consisted of few penalties, mostly as a result of a lot of heavy aggression that would carry on throughout the game.
The second period of the game was electric as the Ghost Pirates ended up hot on the heels of the Stingrays. Just 46 seconds in, Jacob Hudson scored again for South Carolina. Following about two minutes later was Simon Pinard getting his 20th goal of the season. Through a solid offense, SC struck again, this time by Marko Reifenberger. Sitting behind 4-2, the Ghost Pirates struck hard at the net again and again until Brent Pederson lit the lamp with a shot in the upper right corner of the net. Not long after Pederson’s sneaky shot came Jacob Hudson’s 3rd goal, giving him an away hat trick. The physicality never died out; it only built up to become even more heated in the third period.
Only two goals were scored in the final period. It wasn’t until about halfway through the period that Pat Guay scored, raising the Ghost Pirates to four goals. While they tried to tie up the score, they eventually pulled Jesper Vikman from the net for a 6-5 man advantage. Brandon Estes blocked a close call for an empty net goal, but right after that, Austin Magera hit the unoccupied goal with under a minute left in regulation.
While the game did not end in favor of Savannah, the team and city came together and celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in Enmarket Arena. There was a lot of festive music playing in the arena, like Irish jigs and bagpipe music. In addition, the arena even sold green beer at some of the stands. The Savannah Ghost Pirates got to truly see just how passionate the city of Savannah is about St. Patrick’s Day as they came together to celebrate with some hockey.
