EVANSVILLE, IN – The Macon Mayhem headed north for their first road contest over the season as they looked to take down the Evansville Thunderbolts on Friday night. It was a game full of runs and momentum swings, but the Mayhem would earn just a point in the standings, falling short in the shootout.
Macon would get off to a raucous start. He might have been wearing a new jersey number (#16), but it was the same old Alex Laplante as he backhanded the first Mayhem goal past Hayden Lavigne just 1:07 into the contest off of assists from CJ Hayes and Brad Jenion. Macon’s Justin Cmunt would double up the Mayhem lead on the powerplay with his first professional goal with assists from Hayes and Adam Eby. Just over a minute later, Jake Goldowski would score his third of the year to run Evansville’s netminder Lavigne from the game. Evansville would then roar back to life and score 3 straight goals to close out the first-period courtesy of Kirton, Gendunov, and Ferraro.
The Mayhem would come out firing in the second, recapturing the momentum from the Thunderbolts. Jake Goldowski would steal the puck back in the Thunderbolts zone before setting up Alex Laplante, who would deke out Sean Kuhn and slow roll the puck by him for a 4-3 Mayhem lead. The two teams would trade shots back and forth, but it the would be the Mayhem capping off the second with another goal. Brad Jenion would crash the crease and deflect a shot from Tommy Munichiello to net his first professional goal.
It would be an extremely clean third period from both sides as neither team was assessed a penalty. Unfortunately for the Mayhem, the Thunderbolts stole back the momentum from Macon to net two goals courtesy of Gendunov and Ruddy to force the game into overtime. Macon would earn a point in the standings, but they would have to look to overtime to try to grab the second.
In the the three on three overtime period, the two sides would trade breakout opportunities, but neither could net the winner.
Jake Goldowski’s lone tally in the shootout would not be enough as two quick Thunderbolts tallies from Gendunov and Kirton would be too much for Macon to come back from. Macon’s netminder Josh Boyko would be the victim of some poor puck luck in a valiant effort stopping 37/42 shots.
Macon will be back in Evansville tomorrow night looking for revenge and both points; puck drops at 8:00 est. Macon will continue a 27-day road trip before heading back to the Macon Coliseum on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for a tilt with the Ice Bears on Scooby Doo Night. Then Sunday November 26th, the Mayhem welcome in the Pensacola Ice Flyers for a Sunday matinee. For tickets or more information, visit maconmayhem.com or call us at 478-803-1592.
#BattleEveryShift