Dominant Special Teams Effort Leads Bolts Over Peoria, 4-3

Peoria, Ill.:  Behind a season-best three power play goals along with a perfect night of penalty killing, the Thunderbolts emerged in the third period to defeat the Peoria Rivermen 4-3 in Peoria on Friday night . The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, January 24th against the Pensacola Ice Flyers at 7:05pm CT.

The Rivermen scored in the opening minute, as Jordan Ernst gave Peoria a 1-0 lead 45 seconds into the contest.  A few minutes later, the Thunderbolts gained a spark as Brady Lynn squared off against Peoria’s Frankie Trazzera, more than holding his own as he fought to a draw against the larger Trazzera.  The momentum shift helped lead to the tying goal, scored by Scott Kirton at 7:10, unassisted.  The Rivermen gained a major power play midway through the period, and although they did not score on the power play, they scored immediately afterward as Nick Gullo made it 2-1 Peoria at 16:10.  Evansville scored the second period’s lone goal, as Logan vande Meerakker scored on a major power play from Anthony Hora and Matt Dorsey to tie the game once again at 2-2.  In the third period, Evansville scored a pair of power play goals to gain a 4-2 lead, as Jordan Simoneau scored on a rebound from Lynn at 9:19, followed by a net-front deflection by Dorsey at 14:14 from Vande Meerakker and Kirton.  Peoria responded at 18:01 as Daniel Chartrand scored to make it 4-3, however the Thunderbolts held down the fort the rest of the way for the victory, their second win in Peoria this season.

Kirton, Dorsey, and Vande Meerakker each finished with one goal and assist, while Simoneau finished with one goal.  In goal, Cole Ceci finished with 15 saves on 18 shots for his 7th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Saturday, January 18th at Peoria Civic Center, face-off set for 7:15pm CT.

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.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

Thunderbolts Sign Defenseman Cameron MacPhee

On Friday, the Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced the signing of defenseman Cameron MacPhee to a standard contract.

MacPhee joins the Thunderbolts following 15 games in the Germany 4 league with TuS Harsefeld, scoring 6 goals and 18 points to begin his rookie professional season.  The native of Edmonton, Alberta played three seasons of major junior hockey in the Western Hockey League, split between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince George Cougars, scoring 2 goals and 5 points in 65 total games between 2016-2019.  MacPhee also played 15 games of senior hockey with the Hazelton Wolverines of the CIHL in 2023-24, scoring 6 goals and 12 points prior to beginning his professional career in Germany.

Thunderbolts, SPHL announce schedule changes

Evansville, In.: The Evansville Thunderbolts, in conjunction with the SPHL, announce two changes to the Thunderbolts’ remaining 2024-25 game schedule.  All remaining Thunderbolts home game dates and times are unaffected by these changes.

​Due to inclement winter weather this past weekend, the Thunderbolts’ away game at Birmingham originally scheduled for this past Friday, January 10th, along with Peoria’s games at Huntsville on Friday, January 10th and Saturday, January 11th, were postponed.  Amidst the necessary changes to the league’s overall schedule, two changes involved the Thunderbolts; First,instead of returning to Birmingham to make up Friday’s game, the Thunderbolts will play an additional away game at Knoxville on Friday, March 7th, with an opening face-off time of 6:05pm CT.  In addition, the Thunderbolts’ home game on Sunday, March 9th will now be played against the Huntsville Havoc instead of the Macon Mayhem, opening face-off unchanged at 3:05pm CT.  ​

​In a league statement, Commissioner Doug Price commented: “While we hoped to maintain the same matchups from the postponed games, limited arena dates this late in the season, combined with the original schedules of this weekend’s visiting teams around those replacement dates, required changes to multiple teams’ travel schedules.”

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.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL. The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

Thunderbolts Hold on in Birmingham, Defeat Bulls 3-2

Pelham, Ala.:  The Thunderbolts built up a 3-0 lead, and Evansville’s defense along with goaltender Ty Taylor made the lead stick as Evansville won 3-2 over the Bulls in Pelham on Saturday night. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, January 24th against the Pensacola Ice Flyers at 7:05pm CT.

Logan vande Meerakker opened the scoring for Evansville 3:50 into the first period by driving the net and scoring on the rebound, assisted by Myles Abbate and Matthew Hobbs.  Shortly afterward at 7:23, Hobbs deflected in a shot from Anthony Hora to extend the lead to 2-0, also assisted by Scott Kirton on Evansville’s lone power play of the evening.  In a strong second period for Evansville, the lead was further gapped to 3-0 as Brendan Harrogate scored at 10:41, set up by Scott Kirton and Aiden Wagner.  The goal for Harrogate marked his 100th point as a Thunderbolt, becoming the third player in franchise history, along with Kirton and Austin Plevy, to achieve the milestone.  The Bulls’ push back came in the third period, as Drake Glover scored a power play goal at 1:48, and with 10 seconds remaining, Carson Rose trimmed Evansville’s lead to 3-2, however the Thunderbolts successfully held on in the final seconds for the 3-2 victory to jump over Birmingham into 7th place in the league standings, and remain 6 points above the playoff line.

Hobbs scored a goal and assist, Vande Meerakker and Harrogate scored one goal each, and Kirton tallied a pair of assists.  In goal, Ty Taylor finished with 38 saves on 40 shots for his 6th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Bulls’ next scheduled meeting will be on Friday, April 4th at Ford Center, face-off set for 7:05pm CT.

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.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

Contessa Scores Twice in Loss to Rivermen

Evansville, In.:  It was a big night for Derek Contessa, who scored multiple goals for the first time as a Thunderbolt, however it was a rough night overall as the Thunderbolts fell 8-4 to the Rivermen on Saturday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, January 24th against the Pensacola Ice Flyers at 7:05pm CT.

In a great start for Evansville, Contessa opened the scoring with an unassisted power play goal at 2:27.  Minutes later, Matthew Hobbs scored at 5:31 on a net-front play from Tyson Gilmour and Nolan McElhaney to make it 2-0 Evansville.  At 11:39, Contessa deflected in his second goal of the game, assisted by McElhaney and Vili Vesalainen to extend Evansville’s lead to 3-0.  The tide turned as the Rivermen scored a power play goal at 13:01, scored by Jordan Ernst to cut the lead to 3-1.  Ernst scored again at 15:00 to make it a 3-2 game with Evansville holding the lead to the intermission.  In the second period, goals by Carson Baptiste at 2:39, Ernst at 5:07, Baptiste again at 7:50, and Ernst again on a power play at 14:18 put the Rivermen ahead 6-3.  At 14:45, Brendan Harrogate cut the deficit to 6-4 off a face-off from Myles Abbate and Matt Dorsey to get Evansville back within two goals, the goal also extending Harrogate’s point streak to eight consecutive games.  The Rivermen put the game away in the third period with additional power play goals from Baptiste and Ernst to round out the 8-4 final score.

Contessa finished with two goals, Hobbs and Harrogate scored on goal each, and McElhaney tallied a pair of assists.  In goal, Cole Ceci finished with 26 saves on 34 shots.  The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Friday, January 17th at Peoria Civic Center, face-off set for 7:15pm CT.

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.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com