Thunder Lose Early Lead, Fall to Ice Bears
February 23, 2014 - SPHL (SPHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release
BLOOMINGTON - The Bloomington Thunder gave up a two-goal advantage early in the second period and fell 5-3 to the Knoxville Ice Bears on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
The Ice Bears tallied first just 6:03 into the game when Mark Van Vliet tapped in a hopping puck in the crease, but the Thunder scored three times on a five-minute power play on a boarding call against Knoxville's Corey Fulton. Bloomington's Nic Polaski worked his way through traffic at the left circle to tie the game from assists by Reid MacLeod and Jason Pietrasiak with 7:26 remaining in the first period, followed by a rebound goal by Harry Mahesh 1:22 later and a Bobby Watson deflection of a Marcus Mitchell pass from the left corner 1:14 later to give the Thunder a 3-1 lead at the first intermission.
Knoxville cut the Thunder lead to 3-2 with 15:47 remaining in the second period on a four-on-four goal by Eric Satim on a back-door deflection of a feed from Francis Drolet. The Ice Bears found the equalizer from David Segal with 12:19 remaining in the middle chapter on his top shelf wrister from the left circle on the back door.
The Ice Bears capitalized on a Thunder turnover in the Bloomington zone on a wrist shot from the slot by Peter Neal with 7:01 left in regulation, followed by the ejection of Thunder coach Greg Pankewicz. The Ice Bears set the final score at 5-3 with an empty net goal by Jon Higgins with 20.5 seconds left.
Bryan Hince earned the win in the Ice Bears net by stopping 25 shots while B.J. O'Brien took the loss despite a 36-save effort. The Thunder killed all seven Ice Bears power plays and scored three goals on only two power plays.
The Thunder continue their crucial series with the Ice Bears on Monday and Tuesday at 7:05 each night. Monday is the Ultimate Office Party with deals available through the Thunder office, followed by $2 Tuesday with drafts, soda, hot dogs and popcorn all $2 each. More information is available through the Thunder office by calling 309-434-2980 and visiting Facebook, Twitter (BLMThunder) and www.bloomingtonthunder.com. For individual and game day tickets, call 309-434-2679 or visit the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office.
Junior Blaze fall: The Bloomington Junior Blaze could not finish a sweep of the Michigan Ice Dogs, losing 8-2 on Sunday afternoon in Farmington Hills, Mich. after wins on Friday and Saturday of 9-4 and 4-2. Peter Carlin and Dylan Farmer recorded the Sunday goals for Bloomington. The Junior Blaze conclude the Midwest Junior Hockey League season next weekend with a return trip to the Detroit area for three games against the Berkley Bruins.
SPHL Stories from February 23, 2014
- Stuart Collects Four Points as IceGators Top Rivermen - Peoria Rivermen
- Jones Scores Twice; RiverKings Knock off Columbus - Mississippi RiverKings
- Stuart Collects Four Points as IceGators Top Rivermen - Peoria Rivermen
- Stuart's Two Goals Lift IceGators over Peoria - Louisiana IceGators
- Thunder Lose Early Lead, Fall to Ice Bears - Bloomington Thunder
- Mississippi RiverKings Holds on for 4-2 Win against Columbus - Columbus Cottonmouths
- Offense Slows in 1-0 Loss to IceGators - Peoria Rivermen
- Ice Flyers Come from Behind, Down Surge 3-2 - Pensacola Ice Flyers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
