By WJBC Staff
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Bloomington Thunder saw their record-setting season come to an end in the Clark Cup playoffs on Tuesday night.
The Dubuque Fighting Saints were able to hold the Thunder away from multiple chances in the game and take a 3-0 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final. The Fighting Saints will move on to face the Tri-City Storm in the Clark Cup Final.
The former expansion team put together a statement year as a playoff contender, taking down the Anderson Cup champions in the first round of the post season. In the second round, the Thunder tied the series twice including a Game 4 overtime win.
In Game 5, the Thunder came out with a firry first period performance. The Thunder battled for the best chances in the opening frame with 13 shots on net. Jake Slaker put a laser shot on the net that trickled through to the opening of the goal. The Fighting Saints were able to get to the puck before it crossed over the goal line and clear it down the ice.
Also getting a good look was Jake Durflinger. On the left side of the post, Wyatt Kalynuk fed the forward a one timer. Fighting Saints goaltender Hunter Miska slid across and denied the Thunder on a split save. It was one of 25 that he ended the game with to bounce back for Dubuque.
The Fighting Saints battled for two in the second. Casey Johnson scored his first of the playoffs battling in the offensive zone while shorthanded. An unfortunate bounce to the front of the net hit the Thunder and opened the scoring just under seven minutes in. The Zach Solow found himself at the right place at the right time. The shot from Colin Theisen was going wide, but Solow reached his stick out and tipped it in.
Hayden Lavigne was brilliant on the game making 36 saves between the pipes. Following a 39 save game, the goaltender turned chance after chance away on the night to keep his team in the game. Only the two Fighting Saints redirects went in as an empty netter was added late in the third.
Pushing chances in the third period, the Thunder ran into a tough defensive effort by the Fighting Saints to hold the defensive zone. A strong number of shots were blocked before getting to the net but the Thunder kept firing. Down to the final two minutes of the game, chances still emerged for Bloomington. Dubuque took an angled shot off the glass and Andrew Kerr watched one roll in to finish the night.
