By Bloomington Thunder Sports Information
BLOOMINGTON, Illinois – A three-goal lead quickly turned into nail-biter for the Bloomington Thunder as they topped the Sioux Falls Stampede 4-3 on home ice. Mitchell Chaffee scored his first USHL goal and it turned out to be the winner in the Friday night affair from the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. It was the first win on home ice for the Thunder who held off late power play chances from the reigning Clark Cup Champions.
The third period was an out of this world scoring charge for the Thunder who scored three goals in under five minutes. Veteran defenseman Butrus Ghafari (Western Michigan University) started the charge to give Bloomington the 2-1 lead at the start of the final period. His first of the year was a power play blast from the blue line that rang off the post and just under a minute and a half into the period.
Tarek Baker (University of Minnesota) grabbed his second point of the night, scoring his second goal of the year on a spinning shot under two minutes later. Baker and Ghafari tied for the lead in points on the night, each with two. Chaffee’s goal on the power play gave the Thunder a 4-1 lead on a rebound in front of the net. The special teams helped the Thunder to a win, going 2-3 on the power play and killing three of four on the night.
The scoreboard was uneventful through one period, but the Thunder turned on the heat in the second. They recorded 22 shots in the period and were able to get the equalizer. Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University) broke into the zone and caught a pass from Alec Mehr for a one-on-one with the goaltender Stefanos Lekkas (University of Vermont). Slaker netted the first goal for the Thunder and his first of the year at the halfway point of the game. Matt Foley (Yale University) also scored his first USHL point, an assist on the play.
An even first period saw just one goal to break the scoreless tie. Josh Passolt scored on a shot that bounced up and into the Thunder net at 13:34 of the first. The Stampede would be held off the board until the third. The team leader Parker Tuomie (Minnesota State University-Mankato) notched his seventh goal of the season to make it 4-2 and begin a comeback for Sioux Falls.
Bloomington’s Blake Gober would be called for kneeing and ejected from the game, resulting in a five-minute power play for the herd. Lawton Courtnall scored a power play goal on the ensuing man advantage. However, his goal did not come until the final minute of the power play. Then Logan Lambdin was called for high sticking with 2:14 left in the game, but the Thunder kill stood strong to hold on for the win.
Despite his first loss of the year, Lekkas made 35 saves on 39 Thunder shots. At the other end of the rink, Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) made 24 saves in his fourth win of the season
