Thunderbolts complete weekend trio of wins, with road victory at Peoria

PEORIA, IL. (WFIE) - Despite being heavily outshot, the Thunderbolts battled their way to a 3-2 overtime victory in Peoria on Sunday afternoon as Trevor Gorsuch backstopped the Thunderbolts with 33 saves, while Brendan Harrogate scored the game-winning goal in overtime. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Thursday, March 16th against the Huntsville Havoc at 7:00pm CT. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.

Evansville grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period with a pair of power play goals, as Tanner Butler scored at 12:03 from Conner Jean, followed by Aaron Huffnagle from Harrogate and Jean on a 5-on-3 power play at 18:23. The Rivermen struck back late in the second period as Mitchell McPherson cut Evansville’s lead to 2-1. In the third period, Zach Wilkie tied the game to force overtime, where Harrogate scored only 57 seconds in from Huffnagle and Felix Sasser to win the game for Evansville, 3-2. Today’s win marks the first time in franchise history that Evansville has won the season series against the Rivermen. Today’s win is also the 28th of the season for Evansville, tying the franchise record for team wins in a season, accomplished last season, with 10 games remaining.

Harrogate and Huffnagle finished with one goal and one assist, while Butler finished with one goal. Jean finished with two assists, while Gorsuch finished with 33 saves on 35 shots for his 12th win of the season. The win brings the maximum number of points needed for Evansville to clinch a playoff spot down to just 3 points out of 20 possible. The win, combined with Knoxville’s loss, lifts Evansville into 4th place in the SPHL standings, at which a finish in 4th place or higher would secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs next month. The Thunderbolts and Rivermen do not meet again this season, with Evansville winning the season series 6-5.

Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for this 2022-23 season. Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are now on sale as well. Call 812-422-BOLT or visit our all-new website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.