Abbate's Late Goal Leads Thunderbolts to Game 3 Victory
SPHL Evansville Thunderbolts

Abbate's Late Goal Leads Thunderbolts to Game 3 Victory

Published on April 23, 2026 under SPHL (SPHL)
Evansville Thunderbolts News Release


Evansville, In.: Tied 1-1 late in the third period, the Thunderbolts capitalized on late Roanoke penalties, as Myles Abbate's power play goal with 2:47 remaining broke the tie in a 4-1 win over Roanoke at Ford Center on Wednesday night. Game four in this best-of-five semifinal series against the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs at Ford Center will be on Thursday, April 23rd, face-off at 7:00pm CT.

Following a scoreless first period, the Thunderbolts took the first lead of the second period as Evan Miller scored on the power play off a rebound from Jordan Simoneau and Scott Kirton at 5:13. Bad penalties by Evansville reared their ugly head six minutes later, as Roanoke tied the game back up at the 11:13 with a power play goal from Gustav Muller. The atmosphere was tense in the third period with close chances at both ends, before the Rail Yard Dawgs took two careless penalties in the final five minutes to present a golden opportunity for Evansville, as the Thunderbolts did not take a single penalty in the third period, and were rewarded with the opportunity. With 2:47 remaining, Aaron Huffnagle's cross ice pass connected with Abbate, who in one fell swoop shoveled the puck past Austyn Roudebush to give Evansville a 2-1 lead, Matthew Hobbs picking up the secondary assist. An empty net goal shot from the Evansville zone by Jordan Simoneau made it 3-1 Evansville with 1:53 remaining, before Kirton set up one more empty net goal for Miller to make it 4-1 at 19:02.

Miller scored two goals, Simoneau scored one goal and one assist, while Abbate scored the game-winning goal. Kirton tallied a pair of assists, while Kristian Stead finished with 38 saves on 39 shots on goal for his 4th win of the playoffs. Game four will be played at Ford Center this Thursday, April 23rd at 7:00pm CT, and if Evansville is unable to close out the series in game four, game five would be at Berglund Center on Saturday, April 25th at 6:05pm CT.

Season tickets for the 2026-27 season are on sale now. Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the remainder of this 2025-26 season. Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

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