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SportsSunday, November 25, 2007 9:55 PM CST
Late third period goals halt Thunder comeback
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BLOOMINGTON -- The Bloomington PrairieThunder staged one big comeback Saturday night at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. | Photo gallery

A second proved too much to ask for.

After squandering a 3-0 lead, Port Huron bounced back with goals by Brian Felsner and Tab Lardner late in the third period and then held on for a 5-4 International Hockey League victory before a crowd of 3,041.

The sputtering Thunder (5-9-0) struggled again offensively for most of the game while suffering its second home loss in as many nights to Port Huron and sixth defeat in its last seven games overall.

“We have to win these (home) games or at least get a point,” said a visibly frustrated Thunder coach Derek Booth. “Go to overtime or something. We can’t give away points, and that’s what we’ve done.”

It was a different story for the Icehawks (9-8-0), who claimed their third road victory in three days. Port Huron posted a 4-0 win over the Thunder Friday night behind goaltender Larry Sterling.

“We had a good weekend before this game even started,” said Port Huron coach Stan Drulia. “This game makes it even better going home with six points. I’m not sure our organization has ever won three games in a row on the road. This is a big step for us.”

Bloomington overcame an abysmal opening 30 minutes and tied the game at 3-3 on goals by Jason Ralph, Jeff Ewasko and Sam Ftorek. Ralph’s goal snapped a personal seven-game scoreless streak. Ftorek connected with 7 seconds left in the period.

Felsner snapped the tie when he beat Thunder rookie goalie Loic Lacasse on a one-time from the left circle with 6:17 remaining. Lardner followed with his second goal of the game at the 17:05 mark.

With Lacasse pulled for an extra attacker, Don Parsons cut the deficit to 5-4 with 31 seconds to play but it was the Thunder’s last gasp.

“When we make mistakes it’s in the net,” Booth said. “The fourth and fifth goals, both shots were top shelf and it usually doesn’t happen like that. It’s little things where we’re making a defensive mistake and it’s costing us a goal.

“The fourth goal when we should have kept it down low we chipped it back up to the winger’s side and nobody was there.”

Port Huron opened a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Jeff Zehr and Lardner. Kris Vernarsky scored at the 3:20 mark of the second to make it 3-0.

“I think we relaxed a little bit, but this is three in three for us,” Drulia said. “I think we sat back a little bit when we got up 3-nothing. They took over from the 10-mintue mark on, kind of like we did yesterday.

“We were fortunate Larry made some big saves for us, and we got some pretty big goals out of Felsner and Lardner.”

The Thunder outshot Port Huron 19-12 in the second period and finished with a 33-28 edge overall. Pascal Bedard and Leo Thomas both had two assists for Bloomington. Ewasko’s goal was his first of the season.

“The first period we watched,” Booth said. “The second period we watched for a little bit and then we turned it on. When we turn it on we’re unstoppable.”

The Thunder will complete a stretch of four games in five days today with a 3 p.m. matinee at Kalamazoo.

Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports.

Take a look
Port Huron's Tab Lardner, left, skates towards the goal with the puck while PrairieThunder's Brett Holmberg, right, skates behind him during Saturday night's (November 24, 2007) game at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in downtown Bloomington, Illinois. (Pantagraph/B Mosher)
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Reader comments on this story - 4 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

thunderstruck wrote on Nov 25, 2007 8:47 PM:

" I drive 30 miles to your city to watch the Thunder. 5 games in past 3 1/2 weeks. It seems like several of the teams are actually pretty evenly matched. Peoria I see only gets about a thousand more in attendance. Of course a couple more scorers and a first place postion in the standings wouldnt hurt on getting more people to your arena.. I think the Thunder will get better as the season goes along. Right now, they just dont seem to get involved much in the first periods for some reason. "

To: Low Attendance wrote on Nov 25, 2007 5:01 PM:

" How many other names have you written under? It seems strange that you are in a position to make any comment when you have never attended a game. The PT play 38 games and not always at optimal times like Thanksgiving weekend. "

Ima Fan wrote on Nov 25, 2007 1:22 PM:

" The attendance is actually pretty good compared to most of the rest of the league. This team needs a few more goal scorers. Every night they get down 2 or 3 goals and then try to come back. Friday night they got shut out. A winning team will bring in a lot more fans. "

low attendance? wrote on Nov 25, 2007 9:51 AM:

" The attendance of 3,041 strikes me as a little surprising; low, that is. Can the Coliseum overcome the money-losing months with that few people attending hockey? Are fan-atics buying that many hot dogs and beers? As a longtime resident of the City, I must say I have no interest in major league hockey, let alone minor league; I suspect I am far from alone. Without a continuing premium attraction, the Coliseum looks more and more like a bad idea bearing bad fruit. "

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