Thunderbirds Drop Decision to Rockers, 3-1

Winston-Salem, NC – The Carolina Thunderbirds fell to the Motor City Rockers, 3-1, on Saturday evening at the Fairgrounds Arena in front of 3,165 fans.

After losing 7-2 on Friday night, Motor City (11-13-1) came out quickly in the 1st period. While on the penalty kill, Eli Rivers forced a turnover in the neutral zone and had a breakaway against Carolina (16-4-3) netminder Mario Cavaliere and beat Cavaliere to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead. Late in the 1st period, Gordon Whalen found the puck at center ice and led Nate Keeley into the attacking zone where Keeley snapped home a shot over the glove of Rockers’ goalie Ricardo Gonzalez, tying the game at one going to the 2nd.

In the middle 20 minutes, with the game 4-on-4, Josh Colten found Marquis Grant-Mentis on a 2-on-1 opportunity leaving Cavaliere no chance, giving Motor City a 2-1 lead with 4:32 remaining in the 2nd. The Rockers took that lead to the 3rd where the Thunderbirds knocked on the door for the whole 20 minutes.

Across the final frame, Carolina came out firing with multiple opportunities and hitting iron twice. Gonzalez, who allowed seven goals on Friday night, responded with a stellar 3rd period denying every chance the Thunderbirds had. With less than two minutes left, Cavaliere went to the bench bringing the extra attacker on. Even with the extra man, Gonzalez stood tall in net while Rivers got an empty netter with nine seconds left giving the Rockers a 3-1 victory over Carolina.

The Thunderbirds now prepare for a three-game weekend in Georgia with two games against the Columbus River Dragons and a matchup with the Athens Rock Lobsters. The Thunderbirds begin the weekend seeing the River Dragons on Friday evening in Columbus, Georgia. Puck drop is slated for 7:35 p.m. from the Columbus Civic Center.