Evansville, In.: Behind goals from Jordan Simoneau and Connor Federkow along with a collective defensive effort that held Peoria to only 23 shots on goal, the Thunderbolts defeated the Rivermen 2-1 on Friday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Saturday, November 1st against the Peoria Rivermen at 7:00pm CT.
The Thunderbolts outshot the Rivermen 14-5 in the first period, despite being shorthanded for five minutes, and grabbed the game’s first lead at 11:49 as Simoneau scored on a 2-on-1 rush from Cameron MacPhee. Early in the second period, the Thunderbolts doubled the lead to 2-0 at 3:17 as Federkow scored on a power play from Scott Kirton and Matthew Hobbs. The extra insurance was wiped out 40 seconds later however, as Griffen Fox scored at 3:57 to cut the Thunderbolts’ lead to 2-1. The Rivermen nearly tied the game in the final minutes of the second period, however a goal-line save with the stick by Kristian Stead on Brayden Barker denied the Rivermen of the tying goal. In the third period, Evansville shut down the Rivermen once again, outshooting Peoria 16-6 and hanging on at the end for the 2-1 victory to open the weekend doubleheader against the Rivermen, ending Peoria’s unbeaten start to the season.
Simoneau and Federkow scored Evansville’s goals while Kristian Stead finished with 22 saves on 23 shots on goal for his 3rd win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Saturday, November 1st at Ford Center, with the Thunderbolts leading the series 1-0.
