THUNDERBOLTS EARN FIRST WIN IN FRANCHISE HISTORY
Evansville needed eight shootout rounds, but finally got their first franchise win in Roanoke 5-4. It was the second consecutive game in which Evansville went to a shootout. The Thunderbolts played in their 10th one-goal game of the season.
Tommy Fiorentino put the Thunderbolts on the board 1:16 into the first period. He buried a rebound shot past the Rail Yard Dawgs netminder Ryan de Melo after a Garrett Vermeersch shot. Roanoke scored later in the period to tie the game at one.
On the season, Evansville was 0-5-1 when scoring first and 0-5-0 when tied after one period. They’ve been outscored in the second period 22-5 in 11 games. This game would be different. Ryan Patsch and Garrett Vermeersch would tally in the middle frame and the Thunderbolts would take a 3-1 lead into the third. It was the first time all season they led after 40 minutes of play.
Roanoke came back with a fury of action in the third. They outshot the Thunderbolts 13-5. They got two goals from Bryan Dallaire (his first goals of the season) and a goal from Jackson Brewer. Evansville answered with a David Williams power play goal as the game moved to overtime tied at four.
Roanoke had three shots in the overtime period, but goaltender Mike Doan was up to the task. Doan started his second straight game for Evansville after being acquired last Saturday. He made 28 saves on 32 Roanoke shots. His best effort was still to come.
In the shootout, Roanoke would send David Gandara to center ice to shoot first. Gandara would score to give Roanoke the shootout lead 1-0. They were stopped by Doan the rest of the way. Center Josh Harris scored in the fourth round and the eighth round to give Evansville their first two-point game of the season.
Evansville is back at Roanoke on Saturday.
Thunderbolt Aces
- Garrett Vermeersch had a goal and two assists. He led the team in shots with six.
- Ryan Patsch’s goal and Brad Bourke’s assist gives them points in back to back games.
- Mike Doan is has stopped 11 of 14 shootout attempts for the Thunderbolts.
ABOUT
Ticket packages are available now for Evansville’s SPHL inaugural season. Visit the Evansville Professional Hockey office at 111 SE 3rd St. Evansville, Ind. or call 812-777-4111. Visit the Thunderbolts on the Web at http://evansvillethunderbolts.com.
