Evansville, In.: Amidst the flashing lights and vibrant sounds of the new home rink upgrades, the Thunderbolts and visiting Ice Bears battled through a back-and-forth opening night contest, with Knoxville coming back to defeat Evansville in overtime 3-2 on Friday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, October 19th against the Knoxville Ice Bears at 7:00pm CT.
After early pressure from the Ice Bears, the Thunderbolts burst ahead to take a 2-0 lead in the first period off goals by Scott Kirton from Matt Dorsey and Vili Vesalainen at 8:44 and Bronson Adams from Anthony Hora and Myles Abbate at 11:31. Knoxville took over in the second period, outshooting and out-chancing the Thunderbolts, which aided the Ice Bears in tying the game at 2-2 with goals by Cam Tobey from Dalton Skelly and Mitch Atkins at 12:08 and Jason Brancheau from Skelly at 18:45. Overtime followed a scoreless third period, where Skelly scored from Derek Osik and Tyler Williams to win the game for Knoxville at the 3:13 mark.
Kirton and Adams each finished with one goal, while Cole Ceci finished with 48 saves on 51 shots. The Thunderbolts and Ice Bears meet once again on Saturday, October 19th at Ford Center.
