(Wichita scores four unanswered to end Evansville’s eight game home point streak.)

 

Records:  Evansville: 22-26-6-2; Wichita: 14-33-6-6

Goalies:  WIC – Bonar (W), 5-5-0-1, 24 saves

EVN – Zenzola (L), 2-3-0-0, 26 saves

Scoring:

1^st Period: 1. EVN – Fawcett 19 (Sims, Rutkowski, 12:50); 2. EVN – Moon 13 (Rumble, Leveille, 17:51)

2^nd Period:  3. WIC – Neal 6 (PP, Nemcik, Isackson, 1:20); 4. WIC – Alberga 7 (Miller, 11:07)

3^rd Period:  5. WIC – Chelios 6 (PP, Oslanski, Lowe, 3:59); 6. WIC – Miller 13 (Huff, Alberga, 4:54)

The Evansville IceMen jumped out to a two goal lead Sunday against the Wichita Thunder, but the Thunder battled back to win 4-2 at the Ford Center. The loss snaps an eight game home point streak for the IceMen and a three game winning streak.

The IceMen scored first right after a power play ended, when Tyson Fawcett fired a shot from the point through a screen at 12:50 of the first period. Evansville made it 2-0 at the end of one, when Nathan Moon crashed the net a shoveled a loose puck past Wichita goalie Sean Bonar. IceMen goalie Matt Zenzola, starting just his first game since New Year’s Eve, stopped all 17 shots in the frame.

Wichita found the net 1:20 into the second period on a power play, when Michael Neal tipped a Martin Nemcikshot past Zenzola. The Thunder tied the game at 2-2 when Domenic Alberga fired a shot under the blocker off of a face-off win at 11:07. The teams combined for just eight shots in the period and went into the third knotted at two goals apiece.

The Thunder took their first lead 3:59 into the third when Dean Chelios capitalized on a rebound for the second Wichita power play goal. 55 seconds later, Kenton Miller fired a one-timer into the net on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 4-2. Bonar made 11 saves in the third period and 24 for the game in his fifth win. Zenzola stopped 26 shots in the loss.

The IceMen wrap up their season-long six-game home stand Wednesday against the Quad City Mallards at 6:15pm. Evansville then travels to Indianapolis to start a home-and-home weekend series with the Indy Fuel Friday. The IceMen will host the Fuel Saturday and wrap up a four game week with Quad City again next Sunday at the Ford Center.

UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Wed. 3/9 – Quad City at Evansville (6:15pm) – Ford Center

                        College Night

Sat. 3/12 – Indy at Evansville (7:15pm) – Ford Center

                        Baby Races

Sun. 3/13 – Quad City at Evansville (5:15pm) – Ford Center

                        Subway Family Night

                      

MARCH BOOK DRIVE

Evansville’s Book Drive finishes Sunday when the IceMen take on the Wichita Thunder. Bookmarks will be handed out for every book donated, and anyone with a bookmark can present it at the Ford Center Ticket Office for a $6 ticket anywhere in the arena for the IceMen game Wednesday March 9^th against Quad City.  All of the books will be donated to Evansville Hangers.

FAITH SUNDAYS

Bring any pamphlet or program from your faith service to the Ford Center Ticket Office and receive a $5 discount on tickets anywhere in the building for Sunday home games! There are two remaining Sunday home games: March 13 and 20. All Sunday games are scheduled for 5:15pm.

POSTGAME SKATE – MARCH 20

IceMen Season Ticket Holders and Blizzard Buddies are welcome to participate in a postgame skate Sunday, March 20 after the IceMen take on the Cincinnati Cyclones at 5:15pm at the Ford Center. Fans are encouraged to bring their own skates if they have them, as a limited number of skates will be provided.

DOMINO’S 4-GAME HAT PACK

Choose any four IceMen home games and get a FREE limited edition IceMen hat and a large 1-topping Domino’s pizza, starting at only $17 per ticket. Call the IceMen front office at 812-421-GOAL (4625) for details.

 For the second straight day and the third time in four games, the University of Evansville baseball team was able to mount a multiple-run comeback, this time rallying from a five-run deficit to win 8-6 over NIU on Sunday at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

“NIU came out swinging today, and a couple of mental mistakes in the field cost us early,” UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “I challenged the team over the last seven innings, and we started clicking. Austin started getting ahead in counts, and then we got that big inning.”

The Aces (6-4) have now won five consecutive games, and with three wins over NIU, the team locked up its first series sweep of the year. NIU, on the other hand, dropped to 1-10 on the season.

Things seemed to start off well enough for the visitors out of DeKalb, Ill., as an error and hits from Justin Fletcher, Brad Wood and Tommy Hook spotted the Huskies a first-inning 2-0 lead. A Brian Sisler double and a Johnny Zubek bunt single drove in three more as the game moved into the third inning with the Aces trailing 5-0.

However, Aces starting pitcher Austin Allinger (2-0) would begin to find his rhythm in the ensuing frames, leaving the mound in the eighth after allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits while striking out six.

UE would get on the board for the first time in the bottom of the third with a Trey Hair double, but the big rally would have to remain on hold until the sixth. Consecutive singles from Hair, Showers and Jyawook plated the first run and a Jonathan Ramon sacrifice fly brought another home to make it 5-3. After giving up a single to Korbin Williams and then hitting Eric McKibban, NIU’s Ryan Olson was pulled from the mound, but it would only get worse for the Huskies from there as Stewart Nelson sent a 3-1 pitch from Matthew Hoffman over the fence in left field for a grand slam.

“I felt that with the way things were going, the pressure was more on them than it was on me,” Nelson said. “I got into a 3-1 count, and that’s a good hitting count with the bases loaded, and I was able to drive it. It felt pretty good coming off the bat, but I didn’t know it would be gone. We’re just finding a way to win right now, and that’s a good thing to see this early in the season.”

It was the first home run of Nelson’s career, and it gave UE a 7-5 lead.

After NIU reclaimed a score in the eighth, Hair singled home another to maintain the two-run cushion, and Ryan Brady picked up the save after recording the final four outs of the ball game.

Hair finished the day with three hits and a pair of runs batted in, and both Showers and Williams also enjoyed two-hit days as the Aces out-hit the Huskies 12-9.

The Aces will return to action on Tuesday with a trip to UT Martin on Tuesday.

NOTES: The Aces have now won five consecutive games for the first time since a streak from April 26 – May 2 last season … UE is off to a 6-4 start for the second year in a row … Since 1978, the Aces have posted a 7-1 record against Northern Illinois … This weekend will mark the second time that the Aces have opened the home schedule with a three-game series vs. NIU … UE swept past the Huskies Feb. 24-25 in 1996 … Overall, the Aces are 220-196 against teams that hail from the state of Illinois.

UE Awaits Postseason Fate

 ST LOUIS –The University of Evansville men’s basketball team overcame a 17-point deficit to take a late lead, but a shot at the buzzer by Wes Washpan gave UNI a 56-54 win over the Purple Aces in Sunday’s Missouri Valley Conference Championship game.

“Congratulations to UNI and Coach Jacobson, they do things the right way and I have a ton of respect for them,” Aces head coach Marty Simmons said.  “As I told our team in the locker room, I could not be more proud of a group of young men as I am ours.  The resilience they showed to fight back was great.  Our young men earned a lot of respect from a lot of people around the country for how hard they fought.”

Trailing 35-18 early in the second half, the Aces (25-9) made a furious rally and took the lead with two minutes left.  UNI (22-12) did not give up, tying the game back up before Waspun hit the game-winner at the buzzer.

D.J. Balentine registered a game-high 20 points in the game, hitting 8 shots while dishing out 5 assists.  Jaylon Brown posted 18 in the game, hitting 7 buckets.  Both were named to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts.  The duo also combined to score the final 28 points of the game for UE.

Egidijus Mockevicius reset his own Arch Madness St. Louis mark, hauling in 19 rebounds.  Mockevicius recorded 18 on Friday against Missouri State as he now has the top two rebounding efforts since Arch Madness moved to St. Louis in 1991.

UNI had the upper hand in the first half as their defense held the Aces to just 23.1% shooting in the period while taking a 32-18 lead into the halftime break.  Jaylon Brown broke a scoreless tie at the 17:16 mark as he hit the first bucket of the game.  The Panthers came back with five in a row before Blake Simmons hit a three to tie it up.

Over the next four minutes, UNI reeled off eight in a row, including three free throws by Wes Washpun and a triple courtesy of Wyatt Lohaus to go up 13-5.  The Aces got mired in a 1-for-12 stretch from the field as the Panthers were able to extend their lead to as many as 17 points at 26-9 inside of six minutes remaining.

Evansville fought back to get within 12 in the final two minutes before UNI extended its lead to 14 at the half.

After the Panthers went back up by 17 at 35-18 in the opening minutes of the second half, the Aces fought their way back.  A triple by Brown combined with four tallies from Adam Wing saw UE cut the gap to single digits at 35-26 with 16:08 remaining.  The run continued as a Brown layup got the Aces within four at the 9:43 mark before the gap was cut to a possession with 6:52 on the clock after a Brown triples.

With 3:39 left, Balentine struck again as his bucket gave the Aces their first lead since 2-0.  That field goal gave UE a 48-47 edge.  The teams would swap the lead two more times before a Washpun jumper put UNI up 54-52 with 50 ticks remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Balentine drew a foul and hit both free throws to tie it up as 25 ticks were left.  UNI played it out and a miracle shot from Washpun hit the rim, bounced up, then down through the net to give UNI the win.

UE will have a week to await its postseason destination.  Stay tuned to GoPurpleAces.com for full coverage.

The University of Southern Indiana men’s tennis team defeated Limestone College, 6-3, Sunday afternoon in Gaffney, South Carolina. The 33rd ranked Screaming Eagles move to 5-2 on the year in dual matches after sweeping the weekend and earning three wins in as many days.

The Eagles found themselves in control of the match after doubles play winning all three matches. At number three doubles, the duo of Samuel Kiladejo<http://gousieagles.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2438> (London, England) and Joel Stern<http://gousieagles.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2442> (Mjoelby, Sweden) picked up their first win together. They defeated Limestone’s Campus and Stanec 8-3.

Moving into singles play, it did not take long for USI to clinch the match. Stern would pick up the win at number four singles, 6-2, 6-2 and give the Eagles a 5-0 lead and their fifth win of the season. Kiladejo also picked up two points for USI in his win at number three singles 6-4, 6-2. Paul Forichon<http://gousieagles.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2551> (Nimes, France) was the final Eagle to pick up two wins on the afternoon. Forichon and James Hardiman<http://gousieagles.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2629>(Blackwell Bristol, United Kingdom) got the win at number two doubles. Later Forichon earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory at number six singles.

USI will stay in South Carolina for a mid-Spring Break week match with Francis Marion University. That match will take place in Florence, South Carolina Wednesday at 1 p.m.
University of Southern Indiana Men’s Tennis
Southern Indiana vs Limestone College (Mar 06, 2016)
#33 Southern Indiana 6, Limestone College 3
Mar 06, 2016 at Gaffney, S.C. (Emmie Evans Rector Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Stefano Soares (LIMEM) def. James Hardiman (USI) 6-2, 6-1
2. Gustavo D’Ascenzi (LIMEM) def. Jack Joyce (USI) 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 1-0 (8-6)
3. Samuel Kiladejo (USI) def. Benji Lascari Diaz (LIMEM) 6-4, 6-2
4. Joel Stern (USI) def. Luka Stanec (LIMEM) 6-2, 6-2
5. Guillermo Ortega (LIMEM) def. Aaron Barris (USI) 6-4, 6-4
6. Paul Forichon (USI) def. Giacomo Campus (LIMEM) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Jack Joyce/Aaron Barris (USI) def. Stefano Soares/Benji Lascari Diaz (LIMEM) 8-6
2. James Hardiman/Paul Forichon (USI) def. Gustavo D’Ascenzi/Guillermo Ortega (LIMEM) 8-3
3. Samuel Kiladejo/Joel Stern (USI) def. Giacomo Campus/Luka Stanec (LIMEM) 8-3

Match Notes
Southern Indiana 5-2; National ranking #33
Limestone College 2-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,4,1,5,3,2)
T-3:39 A-17