Evansville, In.: Following a 5-2 loss in their only game of the past week in Peoria, the Thunderbolts’ schedule ramps up with a trio of road games this week in Birmingham and Pensacola as the countdown to the playoffs continues.

  Week In Review: 

   Despite strong 5 vs 5 play, the Thunderbolts fell victim to the potent power play of the Peoria Rivermen, losing 5-2 on Friday night in Peoria, 4 of the 5 goals against being power play goals.  Josh Adkins and Scott Kirton scored Evansville’s goals.

 The Week Ahead: 

The Thunderbolts visit the Birmingham Bulls this Thursday night at Pelham Civic Complex beginning at 7:30pm CST.  Afterward, the Thunderbolts will play a pair of games in Pensacola against the Ice Flyers this upcoming Friday and Saturday, both games beginning at 7:05pm CST.  All three road games can viewed online on SPHL TV with a paid subscription through HockeyTV, or can be listened to for free on the Thunderbolts Radio Network; via the Thunderbolts Mixlr Channel or at EvansvilleThunderbolts.com/fan-center/listen .

Scouting the Opponent: 

Birmingham Bulls: 

• • Record: 15-30-6, 36 Points, 9^th Place
  • Leading Goal Scorer: Carson Rose (21 Goals)
  • Leading Point Scorer: Carson Rose (36 Points)
  • Primary Goaltender: Hayden Stewart (9-15-2, .908 Save %)
  • Thunderbolts 21-22 Record vs BHM: 5-1-1The Bulls lost both of their games last weekend against the Knoxville Ice Bears, starting with a 4-3 loss in Knoxville on Friday.  Playing from behind most of the contest, the Bulls got goals from Jordan Martin, Colton Fletcher and Scott Donahue to keep the Ice Bears from running away with the score.  The following night in Birmingham, Russell Jordan, Troy MacTavish, CJ Hayes and Jake Pappalardo propelled the Bulls in front 4-3, but late penalties gave Knoxville a path to take the late lead and defeat Birmingham 6-4.
• Pensacola Ice Flyers: 
  • Record: 27-17-6, 60 Points, 6^th Place
  • Leading Goal Scorer: Brennan Blaszczak (29 Goals)
  • Leading Point Scorer: Weiland Parrish (51 Points)
  • Primary Goaltender: Sean Kuhn (13-9-4, .908 Save %)
  • Thunderbolts 21-22 Record vs PEN: 0-0-0

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Golf team took part in the Spring Arbor University Garn Championships earlier this week at The Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky.

The first day of the two-day tournament began after a two-hour delay due to frost.

The opening day of play was originally going to be the first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament, but the field was unable to finish the second round and the tournament had to be suspended due to darkness.

The teams returned to the course on the second day and faced another delay, before finishing the second and third rounds of the tournament.

Vincennes placed 14th as a team after an impressive first round, before sliding down the leaderboard in rounds two and three.

The Trailblazers were led in the tournament by low-man freshman Luke VanDeventer, who shot a 78 in the first round, 82 in the second and battled back to shoot a 78 in the final round.

“Luke didn’t have a bad tournament,” VU Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. “He continues to improve as the season goes along.”

VanDeventer finished one-shot higher than sophomore Bryce Kirchner (North Vernon, Ind.) who got off to a hot start in the tournament with a first-round three-over 75.

“The story of the first day was Bryce,” Chattin said. “Bryce had a good round of 75, highlighted by an eagle on the last hole.”

Kirchner would go on to shoot an 85 in the second round and a 79 in the third round.

Freshman Paxton Schwomeyer (Oakland, City, Ind.) was the next Trailblazer finisher after having a very consistent tournament, shooting an 80 in the first round and 83’s in the second and third rounds of play.

Freshman Sam Stewart (Floyds Knob, Ind.) shot a first round 86, before finishing off an 89 and 91 in the second and third rounds on day two.

Freshman Caleb Maris (Terre Haute, Ind.) rounded out the VU scorers, ending with an opening round 94 and was the only Trailblazer golfer to improve on his score in the second round with a 93. Maris closed out the tournament with a 97 in the third round.

“We played what I thought was an average first round,” Chattin added. “Nothing great, but nothing terrible. Then the last two rounds we just did not play well at all.”

“We just need to be deeper,” Chattin said. “One of the unique things about golf is that every player counts the same. Unlike other sports, if a guy has a couple of bad plays, you can take him out. In golf he has to keep playing.”

“A good golf course separates the field. That was a good golf course, they have held a PGA event there. So, you better play well, or it will make you pay. The pins were tough and it was cold, but everybody played the same pins at the same temperature.”

“You have to be mentally tough as a golfer and I think we need to be mentally tougher. When you play from 11 in the morning to seven at night, there is no time where you get to go sit on the bench and relax for a little while and that takes a lot of mental toughness. One of the biggest adjustments for high school kids playing in college is playing 36 holes in a day, which most of them have never done and we played with four freshmen, who are still getting adjusted. This tournament had a lot of four-year schools in it, so our guys are in a group with some fifth-year players.”

“But it’s good experience and good exposure to play that good of a golf course against some good four-year schools. When we got home I said to the guys, ‘the course kind of beat us up, do you guys want to go back next year’ and every one of them said yes. So that’s a good sign that they want to give it another shot.”

The VU golfers will have a quick turnaround as they head out to Cape Girardeau, Mo. to take part in the Region 24 Spring Preview at Dalhousie Golf Club Friday, April 1.

Aces place 16^th at Pawley’s Island

 PAWLEY’S ISLAND, S.C. – Magdalena Borisova had the top finish while Carly Frazier posted the low round in Wednesday’s final round of the Golfweek/Any Given Tuesday Intercollegiate at True Blue Golf Club.

Frazier completed the third round with a 4-over 76.  A pair of birdies on the front nine helped her finish at 1-over through that part of the course.  Playing as an individual, she tallied a 239 over the three rounds.

Leading the Purple Aces in the final standings was Magdalena Borisova.  The freshman carded a 6-over 78 to finish in a tie for 41^st.  Her three scores came in at 77-77-78 as she finished with a 232.  Alyssa McMinn and Allison Enchelmayer each wrapped up the tournament with rounds of 78.  McMinn registered four birdies in her round while Enchelmayer had a pair.  Both finished the event with total scores of 240, tying for 68^th.

Three behind the duo was Mallory Russell.  Her score on Wednesday checked in at an 83, giving her a 243 for the three rounds of play.  Caitlin O’Donnell was two behind Russell with a 245.  O’Donnell recorded her best round of the week, scoring an 80 on Wednesday.

Coastal Carolina took the team victory, shooting 7-over for the three rounds.  They defeated Incarnate Word by four shots with SMU 16 behind the winners.  Evansville came home in 16^th in the final standings.  Ellen Nicholas of Incarnate Word and Tiffany Arafi from Coastal Carolina tied atop the individual leaderboard with scores of 212.

UE heads to Terre Haute on Sunday and Monday for the Indiana State Invitational.