Evansville, In.: Despite heavily outshooting Quad City, the Thunderbolts were defeated 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night at Ford Center, the good news still being that the Thunderbolts gained a point to clinch a fifth-consecutive season of playoff positioning. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Sunday, March 30th against the Peoria Rivermen at 3:05pm CT.
Following a scoreless first period, the Storm scored 46 seconds into the second period, as Noah Massie scored despite contact on Cole Ceci, to give Quad City the opening lead. In response, Scott Kirton scored on a quick rush up ice to tie the game 1-1 at 7:24, set up by Mackenze Stewart. At 13:37, Quad City took a 2-1 lead as Brodie Girod won a net-front battle to score. With only 1:06 remaining in the period, Isaac Chapman scored on a fast break to the net to tie the game once again at 2-2, assisted by Will van der Veen and Bronson Adams. Following a scoreless third period where once again Evansville heavily outshot Quad City, the game required a shootout following an also-scoreless overtime. Scott Kirton scored for Evansville in round two, but Leif Mattson scored in round three and Brandon Stojcevski in round seven to win the game for the Storm 3-2, as Quad City survives being outshot 45-20 due in large part to the play of goaltender Brent Moran to steal the second point from Evansville.
Chapman and Kirton each scored a goal for Evansville, while Cole Ceci finished with 18 saves on 20 shots on goal. The Thunderbolts and Storm do not meet again this regular season, with Evansville still winning the regular season series 7-5.
