Thunderbolts Face Knoxville Ice Bears in President's Cup Final

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SPHL Evansville Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts Face Knoxville Ice Bears in President's Cup Final

April 19, 2025 - SPHL (SPHL)
Evansville Thunderbolts News Release


Evansville, In.: Following their sweep of the #1-seeded Peoria Rivermen in the Semifinals, the Thunderbolts will take on the Knoxville Ice Bears in Evansville's first-ever appearance in the President's Cup Final. Game Two at Ford Center will be this Thursday, April 24th at 7:00pm CT.

Week In Review:

The Thunderbolts and Rivermen went scoreless for two full periods on Wednesday in Game One at Peoria, before Logan vande Meerakker scored on a breakaway in the third period to open the scoring for Evansville, followed by Aidan Litke into an empty net in the final minutes to make it 2-0 Evansville. In an impressive display of defense, the Thunderbolts held Peoria to only 15 shots, helping Cole Ceci earn a far-less taxing 15 save shutout. In Game Two at Ford Center on Friday, Peoria struck first in the opening period, before second period goals from Tyson Gilmour and Vande Meerakker sprung Evansville ahead 2-1 through two periods. In the third period, Evansville survived a barrage from the Rivermen, and the Thunderbolts put the game and series away as Gilmour scored into an empty Rivermen net in the final seconds, 3-1 the final score.

The Week Ahead:

Game One between the Thunderbolts and Ice Bears will be this Wednesday night at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, opening face-off set for 6:05pm CT. Game Two will be at Ford Center on Thursday night, with opening face-off at 7:00pm CT. Game Three, if necessary, will be on Sunday afternoon at Knoxville Civic Coliseum beginning at 2:05pm CT. Both games One and Three (if necessary) at Knoxville can be viewed live on FloHockey with a paid subscription or can be listened to for free on the Thunderbolts Mixlr Channel.

Scouting the Opponent:

Knoxville Ice Bears:

Record: 25-24-7, 57 Points, 6th Place

Leading Regular Season Goal Scorer: Dawson McKinney (25 Goals)

Leading Regular Season Point Scorer: Derek Osik (42 Points)

Primary Regular Season Goaltender: Stephen Mundinger (18-13-5, .909 Save %)

Thunderbolts 24-25 Record vs KNX: 0-3-3

In a carbon copy of their first round upset over the #3 seeded Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, the Ice Bears lost Game One on home ice before winning the next two games on the road against the #4 seeded Birmingham Bulls. In Game One, the Bulls exploded to a 3-0 lead, before Tyler Williams and Jimmy Soper scored in the third period to pull the Ice Bears to within one goal, however the Bulls scored late to close the scoring at 4-2 Birmingham. In Pelham for Game Two on Friday, the Ice Bears handily defeated Birmingham 5-1 behind goals from Kyle Soper, Jason Branchaeu, Eric Olson, Ryan Kuzmich, and Derek Osik, along with 53 saves on 54 shots by Stephen Mundinger. In Saturday's Game Three at Pelham, the Ice Bears initially led 2-0 on goals from Kuzmich and Osik, before Birmingham rallied to tie in the second period. In the third period, Anthony Cinato and Dawson McKinney scored goals to put the game out of reach, as the Ice Bears won 4-2 to take the series in three games, improving to 4-0 on the road and facing elimination so far in these playoffs.

Call-up Report

- Lincoln Hatten (Worcester Railers - ECHL)

- 66 GP, 9 G, 15 A, 24 P, 94 PIM

- Ty Taylor (Orlando Solar Bears - ECHL)

- 0 GP, 0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 SV%

Transactions:

No Transactions to Report

Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2024-25 season. Season tickets for the 2025-26 season are on sale now. Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

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