Thunder pick up win in Bloomington

Posted on February 14, 2015

By WJBC Staff

Bloomington- The return to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum was a sweet one as the Thunder tied a season high of six goals in a 6-3 win over the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Friday night. Bloomington’s top scorers were on display as Matt Mendelson (Penn State University) turned in a four-point night with a goal and three assists, earning the number one star and taking the team lead in points with 28. Bloomington improves to 19-16-7 and makes it a 7-0-2 in their last nine games.

The Thunder came out with a fire in the first period, taking the 2-0 lead without blinking an eye. Shane Bednard (Bowling Green State University) tallied the first goal of the game, on the power play at 4:04 and then Captain Ryan Siroky’s (Miami University) potted his ninth goal of the season. Mendelson assisted on both goals to start the game. Derek Daschke (Western Michigan University) potted his second of the season to cut the lead in half at the intermission.

In the second period, the Thunder blew the game open. Three straight goals by Bloomington was kicked off by Ryan Galt (University of Nebraska-Omaha) who scored his seventh of the season on the power play. The Thunder finished the game 2-3 on the power play. Cameron Spicer (University of Maine) then ripped a wrist shot over the shoulder of Ben Blacker (Western Michigan University) and netted his first goal with the Thunder. Blacker would eventually suffer the loss making 32 saves on the night.

Cal Burke (University of Notre Dame) scored the second goal of the game for the RoughRiders under a minute later to again cut the lead in half. Bloomington then answered back as Mendelson went in on a breakaway and scored his 11th of the season.

Bednard completed his two-goal night early in the third with a shorthanded goal for the Thunder just 32 seconds in. The goal was icing on the cake for Bloomington’s penalty kill, which was 2-2 on the night. The Riders would grab one more goal to end the game but it was already out of reach and the Thunder skated to the win.

Bloomington turned 38 shots on net, while goaltender Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) earned his sixth straight win between the pipes with 13 saves against the leagues most prolific scoring attack.

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