CONTESSA SCORES TWICE IN LOSS TO RIVERMEN
Evansville, In.: It was a big night for Derek Contessa, who scored multiple goals for the first time as a Thunderbolt, however it was a rough night overall as the Thunderbolts fell 8-4 to the Rivermen on Saturday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, January 24th against the Pensacola Ice Flyers at 7:05pm CT.
In a great start for Evansville, Contessa opened the scoring with an unassisted power play goal at 2:27. Minutes later, Matthew Hobbs scored at 5:31 on a net-front play from Tyson Gilmour and Nolan McElhaney to make it 2-0 Evansville. At 11:39, Contessa deflected in his second goal of the game, assisted by McElhaney and Vili Vesalainen to extend Evansville’s lead to 3-0. The tide turned as the Rivermen scored a power play goal at 13:01, scored by Jordan Ernst to cut the lead to 3-1. Ernst scored again at 15:00 to make it a 3-2 game with Evansville holding the lead to the intermission. In the second period, goals by Carson Baptiste at 2:39, Ernst at 5:07, Baptiste again at 7:50, and Ernst again on a power play at 14:18 put the Rivermen ahead 6-3. At 14:45, Brendan Harrogate cut the deficit to 6-4 off a face-off from Myles Abbate and Matt Dorsey to get Evansville back within two goals, the goal also extending Harrogate’s point streak to eight consecutive games. The Rivermen put the game away in the third period with additional power play goals from Baptiste and Ernst to round out the 8-4 final score.
Contessa finished with two goals, Hobbs and Harrogate scored on goal each, and McElhaney tallied a pair of assists. In goal, Cole Ceci finished with 26 saves on 34 shots. The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Friday, January 17th at Peoria Civic Center, face-off set for 7:15pm CT.
Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2024-25 season. Season tickets for the 2025-26 season are on sale now. Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.
About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL. The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com
