Hometown Hero: Ghost Pirates fans

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Every town loves its sports heroes.

And Savannah got some new WTOC Hometown Heroes over the weekend when the Ghost Pirates played their first home game in front of an excited sold out crowd.

Saturday night in Savannah was going to be a success long before the scoreboard said it was.

“It’s been a great night, the crowd is ecstatic, everyone’s really getting into it. It’s a great time,” Matthew Iannatto said.

And a great start of the next big thing in Savannah sports. The Ghost Pirates won their first home game Saturday.

But it was evident that they had already won over the city skating out to a sold out EnMarket Arena the first time they took the ice here with 6,800 fans ready to welcome the new team.

“We’re super excited. We bought the full season ticket package about a year ago, so we’ve been counting down and we look forward to attending as many games as we can,” Ross and Nicoletter Starr said.

And it was more event than game, people celebrating the team’s arrival as much as cheering it on.

“I’m not even a hockey fan but this has been really fun, the crowd has been electric, they’re really involved in the game. It’s been amazing,” Michael Ndamati said.

It was excitement that could be felt on the bench, the home team becoming WTOC Hometown Heroes in front of the home crowd for the first time.

“Just the atmosphere alone kind of gave us life, gave us some legs and we fed off of that,” Rick Bennett said.

The start of the home schedule had fans excited for what is still to come from the rest of the season - same as the 5-1 win that put the Ghost Pirates at 5-1 so far.

“It’s one thing to have a new team, I’m excited just for that, to come support the team. But the fact that it looks like they’re a winning team is even better. Let’s win the whole thing in Year 1,” Santingelo said.

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