Evansville, In.: After being held off the scoreboard with well over 30 shots through 50 minutes, Evansville broke through with two third period goals to force overtime and then a shootout, where Macon held on to win 3-2 on Friday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, February 7th against the Peoria Rivermen at 7:05pm CT.
The first period was almost dead even, with both teams registering 12 shots apiece, however Macon scored the lone goal as Zack Nazzarett scored on a breakaway at 15:05 to give the Mayhem a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Evansville outshot Macon 13-12, yet again it was Macon scoring the lone goal, scored by Nazzarett on a deflection at 1:23. Dominating in the third period, Evansville finally broke through against Bailey Brkin, as Logan vande Meerakker scored at 10:53 from Grayson Valente and Matt Dorsey to cut the lead to 2-1, followed by Myles Abbate unassisted at 15:57 off a turnover to tie the game. Following a scoreless overtime in which Evansville outshot Macon 5-2, the Mayhem won the five-round shootout two goals to one, scored by Yaroslav Yevdokimov and Nicholas Favaro, with Evansville’s goal scored by Abbate.
Vande Meerakker and Abbate scored Evansville’s goals in regulation, while Ceci finished with 28 saves on 30 regulation shots on goal. The Thunderbolts and Mayhem meet again on Saturday, February 1st at Macon Coliseum, face-off set for 5:00pm CT.
