By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – Friday night from the U.S. Cellular Coliseum, the Bloomington Thunder fell 5-2 to the Green Bay Gamblers in a physical battle with their Eastern Conference rival. The Gamblers (24-12-3-2) capitalized on their chances with three unanswered. The Thunder (22-14-3-1) countered back with two goals in the second half of the game. Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University) netted his second goal in as many games for the Thunder in the loss.
The tough fought first period ended in a 2-0 deficit for the Thunder off some bad puck luck. The first goal for the Gamblers came on a cross-ice pass from the United States Hockey League’s leading assist man Marc Michaelis (Minnesota State University-Mankato). The pass was pushed off the stick of Ryan Smith and hit the cross bar before bouncing off the back of Thunder goaltender Logan Halladay (Merrimack College) and into the back of the net.
One minute later the Gamblers capitalized on another odd bounce. The puck came to the front of the net off after bouncing off the boards. Then Josh Dunne crashed the right side of the net before tapping it into the net. The third bounce of the game came in the second period. The puck ramped behind the Thunder defense sending Jason Dhooghe (Ohio State University) on a breakaway. He sent the Gamblers ahead 3-0 with his fourth of the season shorthanded.
The Thunder answered back 10 minutes later. Ethan Somoza (Bemidji State University) scored his third of the season to put the team on the board. A shot from the blue line by Matt Foley (Yale University) was stopped by Adam Huska (New York Rangers) through a screen. With the puck lying on the goal line the Thunder forward tucked a rebound shot underneath the cross bar. Huska would finish the night with 29 saves and his 16th win of the season. Halladay made 17 on the night, including a phenomenal save in the second, diving out with his paddle to stop the puck.
With the lead at two, the Thunder countered but found themselves on the penalty kill to finish the period. Sam Saliba (Michigan State University) netted his USHL leading 12th power play goal with Michaelis grabbing his second assist of the night and eventually the number one star.
In the third, the Thunder were out to tie the game and win the period. With 11 shots in the final frame, the power play came through for Slaker’s 10th of the season. The offense was stymied in the game by the Gambler’s defensive unit and penalty kill as the Thunder were 1-8 on the power play. The Gamblers added an empty netter with under a minute to play to seal the win and even the season series at 2-2-0-0.
The Gamblers return on Saturday night to take on the Thunder in the annual Guns & Hoses Game. Puck drop will be at 7 p.m. from the U.S. Cellular Coliseum to finish game five of the six game season series.
