Peoria, Ill.:  Despite a strong third period effort in which the Thunderbolts outshot Peoria heavily, the three-goal gap was too much to overcome as the Thunderbolts fell 5-2 in Peoria on Tuesday night. The Thunderbolts next home game will be on Friday, January 28th at 7:00pm CST as they host the Huntsville Havoc. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), buy online at EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or buy tickets in person at the Ford Center Box Office.
Brett Radford opened the scoring on the power play at 4:52 of the first period, assisted by Coy Prevost and Austin Plevy to give Evansville a 1-0 lead. That lead was short lived, as the Rivermen scored on a power play of their own from Alec Baer to tie the game at 6:42, followed up by another even-strength goal from Mike Laidley to give the Rivermen a 2-1 lead through the first period. Peoria added another two power play goals in the second period to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. In the third period, Evansville outshot the Rivermen 22-6, and were rewarded when Hayden Hulton scored at 11:30 from Tate Leeson and Cameron Cook to make it a 4-2 game. However, Peoria would score on an Evansville turnover with 5:07 remaining to put the comeback to rest, with the Rivermen winning 5-2.
Hulton and Radford scored one goal each, while Brian Billett finished with 29 saves on 34 shots. The Thunderbolts next face the Rivermen on Friday, February 25th at Ford Center.
