Evansville, In.: It was a Sunday Funday for the Thunderbolts, led first by spectacular play from Zane Steeves, followed by a 4-goal outburst in the second period as the Thunderbolts shut out the Quad City Storm 5-0 on Sunday afternoon at Ford Center, improving to 6-0 on home ice this season. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, December 2nd against the Quad City Storm at 7:00pm CT. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.
Mike Ferraro opened the scoring for Evansville with a power play goal from Brendan Harrogate and Scott Kirton at 13:17. The Storm had a great opportunity to tie with multiple late first period power plays, including a 1:58 stint of 5-on-3 advantage, but the Thunderbolts’ penalty kill held strong, with Steeves coming up big several times to keep Evansville in front 1-0 through the first period. Early in the second period, both Steeves and Storm goaltender Bailey Brkin kept the score at 1-0 with strong saves at both ends of the ice, before the Thunderbolts took control halfway through the 2nd period.
The scoring burst began at 9:34, as Bryan Etter scored from Aaron Huffnagle to make it 2-0. 56 seconds later at 10:30, Matt Ustaski scored from Brendan Harrogate to make it 3-0. Only 49 seconds following Ustaski’s goal came Derek Sutliffe’s goal at 11:19 from Matthew Barron to give Evansville a 4-0 lead with 3 goals in only 1 minute and 45 seconds. Later at 15:43, Evansville struck again as Scott Kirton scored from Ferraro and Alexis Girard to make it 5-0. Both teams put up 13 shots in the third period, but the score remained the same as the Thunderbolts completed the 5-0 shutout.
Ferraro and Kirton led the way offensively with one goal and one assist each, while Ustaski, Sutliffe and Etter scored one goal each.  Harrogate tallied two assists, while Steeves stopped all 33 shots faced in net for his 6th win and 1st shutout of the season. These two teams meet again on December 2nd at Vibrant Arena.
