March 10, 2023 – Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) – Evansville Thunderbolts News Release
Evansville, In.: Scoring the Thunderbolts’ first goal of the night as well as the overtime winning goal, Conner Jean starred in his debut with his two goals, leading Evansville to a 4-3 comeback victory over the Macon Mayhem at Ford Center on Friday night. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, March 11th against the Macon Mayhem at 7:00pm CT. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), go to EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or visit the Ford Center Ticket Office.
After a scoreless first period, it was the Mayhem who struck first in the second period as Rhett Kingston opened the scoring at 2:01. Late in the second period, Jean scored his first goal after coming out of the penalty box, finishing off a 3-on-1 rush with Alex Cohen and Aaron Huffnagle to tie the game at 15:31. On a late power play chance, Scott Kirton scored at 19:31 from Huffnagle and Derek Osik to give Evansville a 2-1 lead going into the third period.
The Mayhem scored a power play goal of their own 1:48 into the third period, as Chris Peters tied the game back up. At 11:29, CJ Hayes scored to give Macon another lead, this time 3-2 with only 8:31 remaining in regulation. With Trevor Gorsuch pulled late, the Thunderbolts battled back to tie the game as Brendan Harrogate scored from Huffnagle and Tanner Butler with 1:31 remaining to force overtime. In extra time, Jean scored the winning goal from Kirton at 3:10 to win it for the Thunderbolts, 4-3.
Jean led the way with two goals, Kirton scored one goal and one assist, and Harrogate scored one goal. Huffnagle finished with three assists, while Gorsuch finished with 35 saves on 38 shots for his 11th win of the season. The win, combined with Quad City’s loss in Peoria, brings the maximum number of points needed for Evansville to clinch a playoff spot down to just 7 points out of 24 possible. The win also brings Evansville to within 3 points of 4th place, at which a finish in that place or higher would secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs next month. The Thunderbolts and Mayhem meet one final time on Saturday, March 11th at Ford Center.
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.
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