Thunderbirds fall to Bobcats 6-3

WYTHEVILLE, VA. – The Twin City Thunderbirds, proud members of the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL), fell by a final score of 6-3 to the Blue Ridge Bobcats Friday night at Hitachi Energy Arena. Zach White, Gus Ford, and Jan Salak netted goals for Twin City in the loss. The Thunderbirds return home tomorrow night to host the Bobcats for “Camo Night”. Tickets to the matchup may be purchased at WSFairgrounds.com, Ticketmaster.com, or by calling the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena Box Office at (336) 727-2236. Puck drop for Saturday’s home game is scheduled for 6:05pm ET.


Kyle Heitzner scored twice in the opening period of Friday’s night’s game to give Blue Ridge a two-goal advantage in the matchup. Heitzner’s first goal of the 1st period was netted twenty-six seconds into the contest. Michael Mercurio and Filip Hlavac each recorded an assist on the goal. Heitzner scored a powerplay goal at 11:08 of the opening period to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. Heitzner’s second goal of the period was assisted by Daniel Martin and Michael Mercurio. The Thunderbirds were outshot by a 16-6 margin during the 1st period, and trailed by two goals entering Friday’s 2nd period.


Zach White scored his fourth goal of the season at 13:10 of Friday’s middle period to cut the Blue Ridge lead to 2-1. White’s goal was assisted by Don Carter Jr. and Gus Ford. After cutting the Bobcats' lead in half, the Thunderbirds surrendered three consecutive powerplay goals in the remaining minutes of the 2nd period. Damon Furuseth scored a powerplay goal at 16:29 of the middle period to give Blue Ridge a 3-1 advantage in the matchup. Danny Martin added a powerplay goal at 18:03 of the 2nd period. His scoring play was assisted by Nikita Kozyrev and Michael Mercurio. The final goal of the 2nd period was netted by Justin Daly. Daly’s goal was netted at 18:35 of the period, and was scored on the powerplay. Nicholas Stuckless and Damon Furuseth each recorded an assist on the scoring play. Twin City was outshot by a 13-11 margin during the 2nd period, and trailed by four goals entering Friday’s final period.


Gus Ford scored an even-strength goal at 7:55 of Friday’s final period. Zach White recorded an assist on the scoring play. Justin Daly netted a powerplay goal at 11:05 of the period to give the Bobcats a 6-2 lead in the matchup. The goal was Blue Ridge’s fifth powerplay goal of the contest. Jana Salak scored the final goal of the night with less than a minute to play. The goal was netted on the powerplay, and was assisted by Jiri Pestuka. Twin City was outshot 14-8 during the 3rd period, and 43-25 overall in the contest.


Boris Babik dropped the game in goal for the Thunderbirds after making 37 saves on 43 shots. Hunter Virostek collected the win in net for the Bobcats in a 22-save-on-25-shot-effort.


Tickets to home games at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena may be purchased online by skating to WSFairgrounds.com, Ticketmaster.com, or by calling the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena Box Office at (336) 727-2236. The Twin City Thunderbirds are proud members of the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL). #FlockTogether