Thunderbolts Rally for Fifth Straight Win, 2-1 over Quad City

Moline, Ill.:  After some early struggles, the Thunderbolts battled back to tie in the second period before defeating the Quad City Storm in overtime by a 2-1 score on Saturday night in Moline, the win extending Evansville’s streak to five consecutive victories.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, November 21st against the Knoxville Ice Bears at 7:00pm CT.

Quad City came out firing on all cylinders on their home ice and managed to take the game’s first lead at 17:28 of the first period, as Dmitri Toporowski scored through traffic to open the scoring.  The Thunderbolts responded well and gradually took over the momentum in the second period, and on a power play, Myles Abbate scored to tie the game 1-1 from Matthew Hobbs and Tyson Gilmour at the 11:21 mark.  The third period was scoreless, despite numerous chances, including a late shorthanded partial breakaway for Gilmour in regulation’s final two minutes.  Evansville shined in overtime, outshooting the Storm 7-1, with Aidan Litke scoring the winning goal at the 3:27 mark, assisted by Matt Clark to win the game for Evansville, 2-1.  The victory improves Evansville’s record to 7-2, including a perfect 3-0 on the road, and moves Evansville into a tie with the Huntsville Havoc for 2nd place, one point behind first-place Pensacola.

Litke and Abbate scored Evansville’s goals, while Kristian Stead shined in goal once again with 32 saves on 33 shots on goal for his 7th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Storm meet again on Sunday, December 14th at Vibrant Arena at the MARK, with Evansville leading the season series 3-1.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  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 Off Storm; Win Fourth Straight Game

Evansville, In.:  With two early goals and more superb goaltending from Kristian Stead, the Thunderbolts held their ground and defeated the Quad City Storm 3-1 at Ford Center on Friday night.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, November 21st against the Knoxville Ice Bears at 7:00pm CT.

The Thunderbolts again jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period, as Aidan Litke scored off a net-front scramble from Will van der Veen and Derek Contessa at 9:26, followed by Scott Kirton at 10:31 from Joey Berkopec and Isaac Chapman.  The first period also featured three fights, Matthew Hobbs against Noah Massie just over a minute in, followed moments later by Van der Veen taking on Davis Kirkendall, concluding with Van der Veen squaring off against Storm captain Tommy Tsicos in the final seconds of the first period.  Quad City got back to within one goal early in the second period as Leif Mattson scored on a power play at 2:29 to remove Evansville’s insurance, cutting the lead to 2-1.  The Storm were unable to beat Stead again the rest of the way, and Chapman scored into the empty Storm net with 1:36 to go in regulation to seal the deal, 3-1 Evansville the final score, for their fourth consecutive win.

Chapman recorded a goal and assist while Litke and Kirton scored one goal each.  In goal, Kristian Stead finished with 36 saves on 37 shots on goal for his 6th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Storm meet again on Saturday, November 15th at Vibrant Arena at the MARK, with Evansville taking a 2-1 season series lead.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  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 Defeat Havoc 2-1 for Third Straight Victory

Evansville, In.:  Behind two early goals and more solid defense, the Thunderbolts defeated the Huntsville Havoc 2-1 on Friday night at Ford Center, extending Evansville’s win streak to three games and entering a tie for first place in the SPHL standings.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, November 14th against the Quad City Storm at 7:00pm CT.

The Thunderbolts jumped out to an early lead, as a pass from Havoc goaltender Brian Wilson from behind the net banked off a teammate’s skate and into the crease, where Cameron Patton scored to give Evansville the opening lead, assisted by Aidan Litke only 2:27 into the game, the goal being the first of Patton’s professional career.  Another Wilson turnover ended up in the Havoc net later at 9:15, as Will van der Veen intercepted a Wilson pass up the far boards and got a quick shot off, with the rebound scored on by Derek Contessa, who was playing in his 100th professional game, to make it 2-0 Evansville.  The Havoc made their biggest push early in the second period and Josh Kestner scored 4:48 into the middle frame to cut Evansville’s lead to 2-1.  Kristian Stead was perfect the rest of the game, Evansville’s penalty kill went 3-for-3, and the Thunderbolts defense was able to keep the Havoc off the attack and secure the 2-1 victory, with Evansville now tied with the Havoc and Pensacola Ice Flyers for first place in the SPHL standings as of Friday evening.

Patton and Contessa scored Evansville’s goals while Kristian Stead finished with 25 saves on 26 shots on goal for his 5th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Havoc meet again on Friday, December 19th at Von Braun Center, with the season series tied 1-1.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  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 Jaden Shields; Place Tait on 14-Day IR

On Tuesday, the Thunderbolts and Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced a pair of transactions, led by the signing of defenseman Jaden Shields to a standard contract.

Shields joins the Thunderbolts after just over a full season in the ECHL with the Tulsa Oilers late in 2023-24 along with the Kalamazoo Wings and Norfolk Admirals in 2024-25.  In 35 total ECHL games, Shields amassed 2 goals and 15 points.  The Royal Oak, Michigan native played four seasons of college hockey in his home state at Adrian College between 2020-2024, and was a top offensive producer, scoring 24 goals and 121 points along with a +72 rating in 110 games, finishing his collegiate career as an alternate captain in 2023-24 before turning pro with Tulsa.  Among other accolades accrued at the collegiate level, Shields was named NCHA Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, NCHA Player of the Year and AHCA First Team All-American West in 2023-24, and with Adrian won NCHA Conference Championships back-to-back in 2021-22 and 2022-23 as well as the NCAA Division 3 National Championship in 2022-23.  Shields also played several seasons of junior hockey in the NAHL (entirely with the Austin Bruins) and USHL (with Sioux City, Chicago, Omaha, Sioux Falls, and Lincoln) between 2016-2020.

In additional transaction news, forward Connor Tait was placed on 14-Day Injured Reserve. 

Thunderbolts Defeat Rivermen 4-1; Sweep Weekend Home Series

Evansville, In.:  After building a 3-0 lead in the game’s first half, the Thunderbolts’ defense held the fort down the rest of the way as Evansville completed the weekend sweep on home ice against the Rivermen, 4-1 the final score on Saturday at Ford Center.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, November 7th against the Huntsville Havoc at 7:00pm CT.

The Thunderbolts pressed right from the opening faceoff and throughout the first period, outshooting the Rivermen 13-8 and heavily out-chancing Peoria.  Late in the period, the Thunderbolts were rewarded as a shot from Connor Tait barely squeaked over the goal line, the goal confirmed after review, unassisted at 15:57 for Tait’s first professional goal.  Evansville continued the push early in the second period and extended the lead to 2-0 only 48 seconds in as Matthew Hobbs scored off a face-off from Jordan Simoneau.  On the power play, Aidan Litke scored on the rush set up by Myles Abbate at 6:37 to extend Evansville’s lead to 3-1 and force the Rivermen to change goaltenders.  In the third period, the Rivermen broke the shutout at 7:03 as Michael McChesney deflected a puck into the net to trim Evansville’s lead to 3-1.  With goaltender Jack Bostedt pulled late, the Rivermen were denied any further goals, and Simoneau cashed in for an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:35 to put the game out of reach as the Thunderbolts won 4-1, sweeping the weekend series.

Simoneau led the way with a goal and assist, while Tait, Hobbs and Litke scored one goal each.  In goal, Kristian Stead finished with 23 saves on 24 shots on goal for his 4th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Friday, November 28th at Peoria Civic Center, with the Thunderbolts leading the series 2-0.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  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