 Roanoke, Va.:  Battling hard the entire way despite suffering several significant injuries through the game and not getting many lucky breaks, the Thunderbolts season came to a close with a 4-0 loss in Roanoke on Saturday night, falling in the best-of-three series two games to none.
Roanoke’s Gehrett Sargis opened the scoring once again late in the first period.  Earlier in the period, goaltender Zane Steeves stopped all 7 shots faced before having to leave the game, as he made a diving save off an exposed portion of his blocker hand, which was injured as a result.  In the second period, Matt O’Dea and Billy Vizzo further extended the lead to 3-0, before Alex DiCarlo made it 4-0 in the third period.  Despite Evansville putting 32 shots on goal, Roanoke goaltender Austyn Roudebush stopped all shots faced.  In a valiant performance coming off the bench in relief for Steeves, Lucas Fitzpatrick stopped 28 of 32 shots.
Despite the tough end to the season, it was another great year for the Thunderbolts, finishing with a franchise-best 32 wins in the regular season under 3rd-season head coach and runner-up to SPHL Coach of the Year Jeff Bes, the 32 wins becoming the most of any Evansville-based professional hockey team since the 2011-12 Evansville IceMen.  The 32 wins included 20 wins on home ice out of 28 games at Ford Center, one of the best home records league-wide.   Off the ice it was a great season as well, as the Thunderbolts finished the season with an average attendance of 3,109, a 23.2% increase from the 2021-22 season and new franchise-best in a third-consecutive year of growth.  2023-24 is already shaping up to be an even better season, beyond the summer months to come.
