Evansville, IN.: In front of almost 5,000 fans for their first home game of the 2022-23 season, the Thunderbolts battled their way to a 4-3 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears at Ford Center on Saturday night. The Thunderbolts next home game will be on Tuesday, October 25th against the Vermilion County Bobcats at 10:00am CT. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.
The Thunderbolts dominated Knoxville early, outshooting the Ice Bears at one point 12-1, however Knoxville goaltender Tom Aubrun kept the game scoreless before Knoxville broke through to take a late 1-0 lead, as Brett Ouderkirk scored a power play goal at 16:59. Evansville responded late to tie the game, as Fredrik Wink scored from Kristaps Nimanis and Hayden Hulton at 19:23 to round out a 1-1 score through one period. Only 45 seconds into the second period, Mathieu Cloutier scored from Hulton and Tanner Butler to give Evansville their first lead of the game, before Brady Fleurent scored to tie the game back up for Knoxville at 6:07. After a slew of penalties which gave Evansville a 4-on-3 power play, Mike Ferraro scored at 11:31 from Butler and Matt Barron to give Evansville another lead, 3-2.
In the third period, Barron found the back of the net for his first professional goal, assisted by Aaron Huffnagle and Timothy Faulkner at 4:15 to extend Evansville’s lead to 4-2. The Ice Bears battled back and pulled within a goal as Ouderkirk scored again at 8:52 to cut Evansville’s lead to 4-3. The Ice Bears threatened to tie the game late with a power play and by pulling Aubrun, but Evansville’s defense got the job done and the Thunderbolts held on to win the game 4-3.
Barron led the way with a goal and assist, while Ferraro, Wink and Cloutier scored one goal each. Hulton and Butler finished with two assists each, and Zane Steeves stopped 25 of 28 shots for his first win of the season. These two teams meet again on January 21st at Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
