Evansville, In.: After Friday’s tough loss to Macon, the Thunderbolts responded well, soundly defeating the Birmingham Bulls 5-1 at Ford Center on Saturday night and taking 3 out of 4 possible points on the weekend. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Saturday, December 20th against the Peoria Rivermen at 7:00pm CT.
Evansville took control early and took the game’s first lead 6:36 into the game, with Jordan Simoneau scoring on a takeaway in the Birmingham zone, assisted by Myles Abbate and Matthew Hobbs. At 13:08, Connor Federkow broke to the net off the right side boards and scored to extend Evansville’s lead to 2-0, assisted by Scott Kirton and Tyson Gilmour. In the second period, Gilmour ended a long goal-scoring drought to make it 3-0, scoring on a rebound from Kirton and Joey Berkopec at 12:39. The Bulls’ last gasp came early in the third period as Shawn Kennedy scored at 2:59 off a 3-on-1 rush immediately following a Birmingham penalty kill, briefly shortening the Thunderbolts lead to 3-1. The Thunderbolts brushed the Bulls’ comeback attempt aside in short order, with Isaac Chapman scoring on a 2-on-1 just over three minutes later at 6:19 from Aidan Litke to make it a 4-1 game. At 12:48, the final dagger came from Keanan Stewart, scoring unassisted after stealing the puck in the Birmingham zone to finish the scoring at 5-1 Evansville.
Gilmour finished with one goal and one assist while Chapman, Simoneau, Federkow and Stewart scored one goal each. Kirton tallied a pair of assists, while Kristian Stead finished with 15 saves on 16 shots on goal for his 11th win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Bulls meet again on Wednesday, December 31st at Ford Center, with Evansville leading the season series 2-0.
