Thunder Drop Seesaw Affair to Surge

December 6, 2013 - SPHL (SPHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


BILOXI, Miss. - The Bloomington Thunder could not hold a trio of one-goal leads and lost their fifth straight game 7-5 on Friday to the Mississippi Surge at Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

The Thunder took the early lead on a Tyler Noseworthy deflection of a Brandon Hew shot from the left point just 1:32 into the game, but the Surge scored on a power play goal by Mitch Bruijsten just under five minutes later to tie the contest at 1-1. The Surge earned an unassisted shorthanded goal from Kyle Kudroch with 5:30 left in the opening champter, but the Thunder evened the game at 2-2 on the same power play with 4:00 left when Kevin Walrod converted a feed from Noseworthy at the far post with an assist also given to Paul D'Agostino to complete first-chapter scoring.

Bloomington used their third power play to take a 3-2 lead with 17:43 left in the middle chapter when Ron Cramer planted a rebound into an open net, but the Surge tallied on the power play again when a shot was blocked in front of the goal but onto the stick of Jordan Peddle, who slapped the puck in easily to tie the game at 3-3 with 14:42 left. Curtis Megginson found a bouncing puck in the slot and scored on a power play to give the Thunder a 4-3 advantage with 9:31 left in the second period. The lead lasted only until 5:19 remaining before the second intermission when Jarkko Leppanen buried a drive in the deep slot on a power play for a 4-4 tie. The Surge took a 5-4 lead into the dressing room with 42.9 seconds remaining in the second period when Kyle Fletcher found the back of the net in traffic at the left post.

The Thunder evened the game just 2:41 into the final stanza when Travis Granbois rattled in a drive from the left circle after Cramer dug out the puck behind the goal. The Surge capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play with 6:40 remaining when Bruijsten tipped in a Joe Tolles drive to put the hosts ahead 6-5. An empty net goal with 20.1 seconds left by Peddle accounted for the final score.

The Thunder were 3-for-6 on the power play while the Surge were 4-for-6. The Surge doubled the Thunder's shot total 42-21 as Max Strang took the loss in goal with 34 saves while Dan Clarke earned the win with just 16 stops.

The Thunder travel to the opposite end of Mississippi to face the RiverKings on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 3:05 p.m. The games in suburban Memphis can be heard on WJBC.com and via pay-per-view video on America One Sports with both broadcast links on the home page of www.bloomingtonthunder.com. Fans are also invited to watch all road games at Six Strings, 524 N. Center St. in downtown Bloomington. The Thunder return home for three games against the Surge next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the annual Teddy Bear Toss scheduled for Saturday. For more information, visit the team web site, Facebook and Twitter (BLMThunder) or call 309-434-2980.



SPHL Stories from December 6, 2013


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