GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – The Bloomington Thunder scored three goals over the second and third periods to take a 4-3 win over the Green Bay Gamblers who surged late in the game. A goal to start the third helped the Thunder late in the game and earned them their first win of the year.
Some insurance was eventually needed in the third period. Vlad Dzhioshvili (Cornell University) picked up the eventual game-winning goal in route to a team high 3-point (1g, 2a) night.
“It was a good road win. It wasn’t pretty, but we scored on our opportunities. Hayden played great in net for us. It’s always tough to get that first win of the year,” said Head Coach and General Manager Dennis Wiliams. “It leaves us with a good feeling and good ending to a positive weekend.”
An early ejection for Pat Curry resulted in a chance for the Gamblers on a four-minute power play and Sam Saliba (Michigan State University) capitalized on the chance. The goal came 6:51 into the first period on the power play as Joey Marooney fed him on a one timer.
The Thunder were able to kill off the rest of the penalty and tie the game on a rebound goal at less than five minutes to the intermission. Blake Gober was in front of the crease to take the rebound and knock in his first of the season. Tarek Baker (University of Minnesota) took an assist on the goal with his shot from the point, also his first point of the season.
“(A comeback win) is a double edged sword. I love it, but I wish we were up from the start,” commented Williams who’s team was down twice in the game, but responded. “We have a resilient group and they worked hard. It’s not easy to play last night in front of a great crowd, have a disappointing loss, and then travel all day to play a very good Green Bay team.
“We found a way,” Coach Williams continued. We dug, we stuck together, and stuck to the game plan. The boys did a great job.”
The second period opened with a transition goal for the Gamblers to retake the lead Jason Dhooghe (Ohio State University) was in the right place on a rebounded shot from Brett Gruber (Arizona State University) to make it 2-1. Bloomington would then go on the power play 6:50 of the period and the Thunder answered to tie the game again. Logan Lambdin put his first of the year in 47 seconds into the man advantage.
After some great saves from Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan), who made 27 in the game, the Thunder took their first lead in the game. Baker fed Jeremy Davies (Northeastern University) in the slot for a one timer at 11:21. The pass from behind the net was Baker’s second assist of the night.
Dzhioshvili scored his goal at 6:05 of the third period. The loose puck made its way to the Moscow, RUS native and he ripped it to the back of the net. It proved to be needed as the Gamblers pulled goaltender Adam Huska (New York Rangers) with a power play and under a minute go in the game. Marooney stuffed home a rebound in front of Lavigne to give the Gamblers a chance, but it was too little too late as the final 10 seconds ticked off the clock to give the Thunder the win.
The Thunder were 1-3 on the power play with 16 shots on net and held the Gamblers to 1-6 on the man advantage. Green Bay turned 30 shots on net in the loss.
Bloomington is back in action next Friday against the Youngstown Phantoms who start the year 0-1-0 with a loss to Team USA U-18’s. Bloomington improves to 1-1-0 on the season as the Gamblers fall to 0-1-0.
