Evansville, In.:  Now winners of 4 of their last 6 games, including three straight on Ford Center ice, the Thunderbolts turnaround continued with a well-rounded 5-1 victory over the Huntsville Havoc on Friday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, December 16th against the Peoria Rivermen, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
It took only 15 seconds for the Thunderbolts to take the first lead of the game, as Brendan Harrogate scored on a rebound from Lincoln Hatten and Hayden Ford to put Evansville ahead off the opening play. Late in the period, Scott Kirton doubled Evansville’s lead to 2-0, assisted by Mike Ferraro to give Evansville insurance going into the second period. Huntsville scored the lone goal of the second period to put some pressure on the Thunderbolts, as Robbie Fisher scored at 4:04 to cut Evansville’s lead to 2-1. The Thunderbolts went back on the attack in the third period, starting with a power play goal by Matt Dorsey at 7:40 from Grayson Valente and Bair Gendunov to reestablish a multi-goal lead for Evansville. Later in the third period at 14:40, Tommy Stang scored to make it 4-1 from Myles Abbate and Gendunov, followed by one final goal by Ferraro at 18:34 from Kirton and Valente to finish the 5-1 victory with authority.
Kirton and Ferraro each finished with a goal and assist, while Stang, Dorsey and Harrogate each scored one goal. Gendunov and Valente tallied a pair of assists each, while Cole Ceci stopped 28 of 29 shots for his fourth win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Havoc meet again next Tuesday, December 26th at Ford Center.
