Evansville, In.: Despite a very competitive pace of play by the Thunderbolts against the Rivermen on the road, the Peoria managed to catch most of the breaks, defeating the Thunderbolts 5-1 on Friday night in Peoria. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, December 31st against the Peoria Rivermen at 7:00pm CT. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.
Peoria scored late in the first period as Alec Hagaman scored at 17:45 to give the Rivermen a 1-0 lead going into the intermission. Only 52 seconds into the second period, Cameron Cook scored Evansville’s goal, a power play goal from Felix Sasser to tie the game 1-1. However, a pair of breakaway goals from Joseph Drapluk, shorthanded at 4:19, and Andrew Durham at 13:35, put Peoria in front 3-1 despite Evansville leading in shots in the period. The Thunderbolts led the shots again in the third period, however another breakaway goal from Marcel Godbout at 6:00 and an empty net goal from Ben Assad in the final seconds of the game sealed the 5-1 Thunderbolts defeat.
               Cook scored the lone Thunderbolts goal, while Zane Steeves stopped 25 of 29 shots faced. These two teams meet again on December 31st at Ford Center.
