ADKINS, BILLETT LEAD THUNDERBOLTS TO 5-2 WIN OVER RIVERMEN 

Evansville, In.: Behind two goals from Josh Adkins and a fantastic performance from goaltender Brian Billett, the Thunderbolts defeated the Peoria Rivermen 5-2 in front of over 3,000 fans at Ford Center on Friday night. The Thunderbolts next home game will be on Sunday, March 6^th at 3:00pm CST as they host the Quad City Storm.  For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), buy online at EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or buy tickets in person at the Ford Center Box Office. 

Austin Plevy scored the game’s opening goal only 3:26 into the first period on a setup from Connor Chatham, also assisted by Mike Ferraro to give the Thunderbolts the first lead of the night.  The lead was doubled not long afterward as Josh Adkins scored at 7:58 from Hayden Hulton and Timothy Faulkner.  Peoria managed to get a goal back as Marcel Godbout scored at 18:26 to cut Evansville’s lead to 2-1.  In the second period, Adkins scored his second goal of the game on a rebound chance from Cameron Cook and TJ Dockery immediately following a successful penalty kill at 11:50 to restore Evansville’s multi-goal lead, 3-1.  An outstanding late-period individual effort from Brennan Feasey, as he stripped several Rivermen players of the puck in Peoria’s end and stickhandling past Rivermen goaltender Jack Berry at 17:24, further extended Evansville’s lead to 4-1 after two periods. 

The Rivermen had a strong start to the third period and managed to score at 4:15 to pull Peoria back to a 4-2 deficit as Godbout scored his second goal of the night.  The third period was also the roughest, and a large scrum in response to a Peoria hit on Chatham about 6 minutes into the period led to the game’s only fight, between Ferraro and Peoria’s Zach Wilkie.  Berry was pulled by Peoria late in regulation, but the Thunderbolts countered as Feasey scored into the empty net to seal the victory for Evansville, 5-2 the final score. 

Adkins and Feasey each scored two goals, while Plevy scored one goal.  Billett finished with 34 saves on 36 shots for his 18^th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet once more on Friday, March 25^th at Peoria Civic Center.