Thunder fall in early hole, drop opener in Dubuque

Posted on March 3, 2017

By WJBC Staff

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Dubuque built up a five-goal lead through two periods and withstood a third-period push by Bloomington in a 5-2 win over the Thunder on Thursday night at the Mystique Ice Center.

The Fighting Saints (29-14-4-2, 64 pts), which moved within one point of first place in the Eastern Conference with the win, got goals from five separate sources and struck three times in the second period to open up the game.

Down 3-0 near the halfway point of the game, Bloomington got a boost of momentum after a big hit by August von Ungern-Sternberg and his fight with Dubuque’s Taylor Brierley that ensued. But following a decisive fight win by von Ungern-Sternberg, the Fighting Saints immediately whisked that momentum away with a goal just 22 seconds later. Quinn Preston struck on a wrist shot from the slot to make it 4-0.

The Fighting Saints made it 5-0 on a goal by Austin Rueschhoff just 30 seconds after Preston’s score.

Bloomington (18-23-3-2, 41 pts) battled back in the third period thanks to a pair of goals from two hot offensive hands in recent weeks. Leading scorer Vlad Dzhiosvhili got the Thunder on the board with his 18th goal of the season, which came on a 5-on-3 power play opportunity. In his first game with the Thunder, Christiano Versich took the initial shot that Dzhioshvili tipped home.

Less than two minutes later, Alec Mehr tabbed his 10th goal of the season, moments after the Thunder’s second power play had expired. The goal extended Mehr’s point streak to five games and increased his career-high point total to 20.

Gabe Mollot-Hill entered the game in the third period and stopped all five shots he faced.

The Thunder finish the season series against Dubuque on Friday night at 7:35 p.m. before returning home on Saturday to take on the Madison Capitols.

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