By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – After a long hiatus with the Youngstown Phantoms, the Bloomington Thunder matched up for the eighth time and suffered a 1-0 loss to their Eastern Conference rivals.
Bloomington falls to 20-18-7 on the season while the Phantoms move up to 25-13-5 after a shutout performance from goaltender Chris Birdsall (Boston College)
The first period ended with a barren score sheet as neither team took a penalty and both goaltenders stopped every shot in front of their goal crease. The back and forth play saw an 8-4 shot differential in favor of the Phantoms. Kyle Connor (University of Michigan) had the best scoring chances but came up empty as Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) stopped eight shots in the first.
On the first penalty of the game, the Youngstown Phantoms would open the game. Max Letunov (Boston University, St. Louis Blues) scored his 20th goal of the season on the power play. Connor and Josh Melnick (Princeton University) assisted on the play, moving both Connor and Letunov closer to the league lead in scoring. Jake Slaker was able to connect on a shot from the point, but the goal was negated by a high sticking call. The Thunder tallied 11 shots in the period but could not get the puck past the netminder Birdsall.
In the third period, the Thunder were able to outshoot the Phantoms for the second time and finished the game with 27 shots on net. Their best chance in the game was by Pat Curry who was denied on a tip by Birdsall’s glove. The Thunder finished the night 0-2 on the power play and 1-2 on the penalty kill as the special teams eventually decided the game.
Lavigne was on the losing end of a goaltenders duel, making 23 saves in the loss. He is now 7-3-0 with the Thunder and has 2.20 GAA and a .909 SVPT.
The Thunder are back in action on Saturday night against the Waterloo Black Hawks looking to rebound from just their close match with the Phantoms. The game is 7:00 p.m. from U.S. Cellular Coliseum and concludes a five game home stand.
