EVANSVILLE, IN – The Macon Mayhem would travel to the Ford Center to take on the Evansville Thunderbolts to cap off their 2023 calendar year, hopefully with a win. The Macon Mayhem would ring in the New Year with fireworks of their own.
Lady Luck would be on the Mayhem’s side just three minutes in. Derek Contessa would rip a shot toward the goal crease; Contessa’s shot would deflect off Evansville’s Chays Ruddy to open the scoring for Macon. Just a minute and a half later, Tanner Nagel would shield the puck and drive the crease before slotting home the Mayhem’s second goal of the contest. In the waning moments of an Evansville powerplay, Dmitry Yushkevich would pull one back for the Thunderbolts. Macon would answer right back. Jake Goldowski would win a tough net-front battle to deflect a point shot from Billy Jerry to restore the Mayhem’s two-goal advantage.
The second period would have no scoring, but there was no shortage of action. The Mayhem would kill off a penalty in the frame. Macon would threaten consistently with two powerplays of their own, but they would be unable to scratch anything across. Boyko would stop all 13 shots he faced in the period to preserve a 3-1 Mayhem lead.
Tanner Nagel would find McChesney with a long outlet pass in the third; Michael McChesney would touch the puck around an Evansville defender before rifling a shot home from the high slot to stretch the Macon lead to 3. Macon would continue to threaten on the offensive end while playing smothering defense in their zone to hold the score right where it was. Evansville would score on the powerplay with the goalie pulled in the final minutes to make it just a 4-2 score. Macon would be able to stifle the Thunderbolts the rest of the way to cap off a 4-2 Mayhem win.
The Macon Mayhem would cap off the 2023 calendar year with their most well-rounded performance in recent memory. Josh Boyko would finish off the year in terrific fashion, stopping 44/46 en route to a 4-2 win.
The Macon Mayhem will return home this upcoming Friday to debut their home jerseys for the second half of the season on #BattleEveryShift Night in a matchup with the Pensacola Ice Flyers. For tickets or more information, visit maconmayhem.com or call us at 478-803-1592.
#BattleEveryShift