Thunderbolts beat Fayetteville for second straight night, to earn weekend sweep

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Thunderbolts mounted yet another comeback with four unanswered goals, defeating the Fayetteville Marksmen 4-3 and completing the weekend sweep on Saturday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, February 10th against the Quad City Storm at 7:00pm CT. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

The Marksmen took a 2-0 lead in the second half of the first period, as Austin Alger and Troy Murray scored at 13:31 and 17:47, respectively. On a late power play, Aaron Huffnagle scored at 18:23 from Scott Kirton and Derek Osik to pull Evansville back to within a goal before the first intermission. The Thunderbolts picked up where they left off in the second period after an early penalty kill, with Felix Sasser scoring a power play goal from Huffnagle and Osik to tie the game 2-2. Minutes later at 7:42, Fredrik Wink put the puck just over the goal line to score and give the Thunderbolts their first lead of the night, 3-2 from Huffnagle and Brett Radford.

Early in the third period, Wink scored once again off a rush up the near side to make it a 4-2 Thunderbolts lead, assisted by Kristaps Nimanis and Bryan Etter at the 2:55 mark. The game’s only fight broke out with just under four minutes remaining as Brendan Harrogate challenged Fayetteville’s Troy Murray after he ran Osik into the boards from behind. The Marksmen killed off the ensuing Evansville power play and got back to within a goal with 17 seconds remining off a goal from Shane Bednard, but the Thunderbolts held on in the fading seconds to secure the 4-3 victory.

Wink led the way with his two goals, Huffnagle scored one goal and two assists, while Sasser scored one goal. Osik tallied two assists, while Trevor Gorsuch stopped 27 of 30 shots faced in net for his 6th win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Marksmen do not meet again this regular season.