Thunderbirds Pick Up Fifth Straight Win, 4-1, over Port Huron

Winston-Salem, NC – Coming off four straight victories, the Carolina Thunderbirds never trailed Friday night at home, taking down the Port Huron Prowlers, 4-1, at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex.

Carolina (9-2-0) came out quickly putting the pressure on Port Huron (5-5-1) with an early flurry resulting in Nate Keeley’s first FPHL goal of his career at the 8:30 mark of the first period. The Claresholm, Alberta native ripped one of the bar and in beating Makar Sokolov giving the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

In the second period, Carolina wasted no time extending the lead. Dawson Baker found Gus Ford behind the Prowlers defense and beat Sokolov doubling the advantage, 2-0. With the assist, Baker picked up his 100^th career point in his third season in the FPHL. With a 2-0 lead, Carolina continued to hold the two-goal advantage going into the third period despite Joe Kennedy getting a game misconduct at the 16:17 mark of the second.

In the third period, Port Huron broke through. On the power play, Brandon Picard beat Mario Cavaliere for his seventh goal of the year, cutting the lead in half, 2-1. The Thunderbirds held onto the lead and in the final five minutes put the visitors away.

Petr Panacek found Jiri Pestuka in the slot and the two Czech natives combined for Carolina’s third goal at the 17:33 point in the third, extending the lead back to two, 3-1. 28 seconds later with Port Huron’s net empty, Baker picked up an empty net goal from his own blue line, finishing off the Prowlers, 4-1. 

Carolina with the win picked up its fifth straight victory dating back to November 17^th and have now defeated Port Huron in four straight matchups. 

The Thunderbirds and Prowlers meet for game two on Saturday evening at the Annex. Puck drop is slated for 6:05 p.m. from Winston-Salem.