SPHL Evansville Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts Host Ice Bears for College Night, Wizards Night this Weekend

Published on January 29, 2024 under SPHL (SPHL)
Evansville Thunderbolts News Release


Evansville, In.: After splitting this past weekend's games against the Birmingham Bulls, the Thunderbolts will make a quick trip to Quad City for a Thursday morning game against Storm, before returning home to face the Knoxville Ice Bears at Ford Center for College Night this Friday and Wizards Night this Saturday.

Week In Review:

The Thunderbolts pulled off an impressive comeback against the top-ranked Birmingham Bulls on Friday night at Ford Center, coming back from 5-3 down late in regulation to force overtime and defeat the Bulls 6-5. Scott Kirton scored Evansville's first three goals of the night, all of which trimmed two-goal deficits back to one, before Bruno Kreisz and Matthew Hobbs scored the final two goals of regulation to force overtime, where Myles Abbate scored to win it for Evansville. Abbate scored once again on Saturday night in Birmingham, but the early 1-0 lead could not be extended as the Bulls came back to defeat Evansville 2-1. Cole Ceci picked up the win in goal on Friday by stopping 27 of 32 shots, while Ty Taylor put up a strong performance in goal on Saturday despite the loss, only allowing two goals on 29 shots.

The Week Ahead:

The Thunderbolts will hit the road just before the weekend for a Thursday morning game in Quad City against the Storm, puck drop at 10:00am CT. Fans can watch Thursday's game on FloHockey with a paid subscription or can listen in for free on the Thunderbolts Mixlr Channel. On Friday and Saturday night at Ford Center, the Thunderbolts will host the Knoxville Ice Bears, opening faceoff for both games set for 7:00pm CT. Friday's game will be College Night, and the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free winter hat courtesy of Lyondellbasell. In addition, Oakland City University will be giving away another $12,000 scholarship to a high school junior or senior who registers their name at https://apply.oak.edu/register/faithnight_2024. Saturday is Wizard's Night, as the Thunderbolts will be wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game. In addition, specialty sweatshirts will be available for sale at the Thunderbolts merch stand. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2548), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

Coming Soon:

The Thunderbolts will host the Birmingham Bulls on Friday, February 9th for First Responders Night. All current and former first responders will be eligible for $10 tickets (limit of 6 per first responder) as the Thunderbolts salute and thank first responders for everything they do for our community. Tickets and more information can be found at

https://bit.ly/BoltsFSN24

Scouting the Opponent:

Quad City Storm:

Record: 15-16-0, 30 Points, 7th Place

Leading Goal Scorer: Leif Mattson (16 Goals)

Leading Point Scorer: Leif Mattson (33 Points)

Primary Goaltender: Brent Moran (7-7-0, .907 Save %)

Thunderbolts 23-24 Record vs QCS: 3-4-1

The Storm swept their two games at home against the Macon Mayhem this past weekend, winning both games by identical 6-3 scores. In Friday's win, Cole Golka scored a hat trick, with Logan Nelson, Tommy Tsicos and Leif Mattson adding a goal each. The goal scoring was more spread out on Saturday, with one goal each coming from Nelson, Tsicos, Mattson, Filip Virgili, Mason Emoff and Matt Ustaski. Bailey Brkin backstopped the Storm to victory on Friday, stopping 26 of 29 Macon shots, while Brent Moran got the workload on Saturday, stopping 38 of 41 shots.

Knoxville Ice Bears:

Record: 9-20-4, 22 Points, 9th Place

Leading Goal Scorer: Brett Mecrones (16 Goals)

Leading Point Scorer: Brett Mecrones (26 Points)

Primary Goaltender: Riley Morris (3-5-0, .888 Save %)

Thunderbolts 23-24 Record vs KNX: 2-1-0

Knoxville suffered another pair of losses on home ice to the visiting Peoria Rivermen on Friday and Saturday night. After being shut out 5-0 by the Rivermen on Friday, the Ice Bears made it much closer on Saturday, being defeated only by a 4-2 score with goals from Rex Moe and Davis Kirkendall. In goal, Riley Morris stopped 25 of 30 shots in Friday's loss, while Zane Steeves stopped 30 of 34 shots on Saturday night.

Call-up Report

- Colton Kalezic (Cincinnati Cyclones - ECHL)

- 26 GP, 2 G, 3 A, 5 P, 4 PIM

- Chays Ruddy (Orlando Solar Bears - ECHL)

- 2 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 P, 4 PIM

- Bair Gendunov (Tulsa Oilers - ECHL)

- 7 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, 4 PIM

- Scott Kirton (Cincinnati Cyclones - ECHL)

- 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, 0 PIM

- Mike Ferraro (Cincinnati Cyclones, prev. Savannah - ECHL)

- 12 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 P, 4 PIM

Transactions:

Sat. 1/27: F Scott Kirton called up to Cincinnati (ECHL)

Wed. 1/24: F Scott Kirton returned from call-up to Maine (ECHL)

Wed. 1/24: F Kenny Britton placed on 14-Day Injured Reserve

Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for this 2023-24 season. Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are also on sale. Call 812-422-BOLT or visit our all-new website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

Check out the Evansville Thunderbolts Statistics

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SPHL Stories from January 29, 2024


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