Evansville, In.: After building a 3-0 lead in the game’s first half, the Thunderbolts’ defense held the fort down the rest of the way as Evansville completed the weekend sweep on home ice against the Rivermen, 4-1 the final score on Saturday at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, November 7th against the Huntsville Havoc at 7:00pm CT.
The Thunderbolts pressed right from the opening faceoff and throughout the first period, outshooting the Rivermen 13-8 and heavily out-chancing Peoria. Late in the period, the Thunderbolts were rewarded as a shot from Connor Tait barely squeaked over the goal line, the goal confirmed after review, unassisted at 15:57 for Tait’s first professional goal. Evansville continued the push early in the second period and extended the lead to 2-0 only 48 seconds in as Matthew Hobbs scored off a face-off from Jordan Simoneau. On the power play, Aidan Litke scored on the rush set up by Myles Abbate at 6:37 to extend Evansville’s lead to 3-1 and force the Rivermen to change goaltenders. In the third period, the Rivermen broke the shutout at 7:03 as Michael McChesney deflected a puck into the net to trim Evansville’s lead to 3-1. With goaltender Jack Bostedt pulled late, the Rivermen were denied any further goals, and Simoneau cashed in for an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:35 to put the game out of reach as the Thunderbolts won 4-1, sweeping the weekend series.
Simoneau led the way with a goal and assist, while Tait, Hobbs and Litke scored one goal each. In goal, Kristian Stead finished with 23 saves on 24 shots on goal for his 4th win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Friday, November 28th at Peoria Civic Center, with the Thunderbolts leading the series 2-0.
