Thunder battle for hard-fought point in OT loss to Dubuque

Posted on November 24, 2016

By WJBC Staff

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Tarek Baker netted the second penalty shot goal in team history and goaltender Logan Halladay turned aside 33 shots, but the Bloomington Thunder fell, 3-2, in overtime to the Dubuque Fighting Saints on Wednesday night.

Bloomington (8-7-3-0, 19 pts) held a lead going into the third period, but Dubuque (10-6-1-1, 22 pts) scored the final two goals of the game, including Cole Guttman’s overtime winner with just 45 seconds left in the extra session to earn both points.

The Thunder still picked up a point, and Halladay (Merrimack College) was a big reason why. Dubuque peppered the third-year Thunder netminder with 36 shots in the game, with nine alone in overtime, but Halladay stood tall.

One of the biggest tests for Halladay and the Thunder came in overtime when a Bloomington penalty sent Dubuque to the power play. Halladay turned aside five shots in the two minutes of Dubuque power-play time to keep the game going.

The Fighting Saints opened the scoring with Jeff Baum’s even-strength goal at the 6:29 mark of the opening period.

But after falling behind in the first, the Thunder came out strong in the middle frame. On one of the prettiest goals of the year, four different players touched the puck, and August von Ungern-Sternberg finished off the passing play by buzzing a snap shot past Dubuque goaltender Jaxson Castor at the 41-second mark of the second to tie the game at one.

Just 16 seconds later, von Ungern-Sternberg got hauled down on a breakaway and was rewarded with a penalty shot. Castor managed the save on the Thunder’s first penalty shot since March 17 of last season.

But that wasn’t the last penalty shot the Thunder would get. Captain Tarek Baker was tripped up on a breakaway at the 12:00 mark, and he scored on the ensuing penalty shot to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead. The penalty shot goal was just the second in team history with the other coming on Dec. 5, 2014 from Vince Pedrie.

The Thunder now return home this weekend to face the Green Bay Gamblers on Friday and Saturday night with faceoff scheduled for 7 p.m. both nights.

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