THUNDER DROP PRE-SEASON OPENER

Glens Falls, NY - The Adirondack Thunder fell to the Manchester Monarchs by a score of 5-4 in overtime on Saturday evening at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The Thunder were led offensively by forward Garrett Ladd, who collected two assists, and a quartet of forwards who each found the back of the net, in Louick Marcotte, James Henry, Mads Eller and Alex Carrier. The Monarchs received two points apiece from Michael Boivin and Matt Leitner.

After an energetic start, the visitors opened the scoring midway through the first period as Monarchs forward Derek Arnold put a quick wrist shot past Adirondack netminder Ken Appleby at the 10:46 mark of the first period. A streaking Arnold took a feed down the right wing from Zac Lattaza and beat Appleby high to the glove side. The goal was Arnold’s first of the preseason.

The Thunder evened the score 7:19 into the second period as Alex Carrier got on the end of a Mark McGowan pass in front and slotted the puck past Steve Mastalerz to even the score at one. After a nice zone entry from Adirondack, McGowan found himself in a 2-on-1 situation and slide the puck to Carrier for the first pre-season goal in Adirondack Thunder history.

In a high action second period, the Monarchs retook the lead not long after as Alex Roach ripped a loose puck past Appleby from the circle to make it 2-1. The Thunder then responded with a power play goal from Louick Marcotte. Cody Freeman drove to the net and created a scoring chance, which was stopped by Mastalerz, but Marcotte roofed the rebound for his first tally in the ECHL.

After a Manchester goal that followed Adirondack’s marker immediately, which put the Monarchs up 3-2, Mads Eller took a feed from Garrett Ladd and made a nifty move past Mastalerz for the goal. The goal for Eller was his first as a professional after he spent the previous two seasons in Canadian junior hockey.

The Thunder took their first lead of the night courtesy of a James Henry snipe from the right hand hashmarks with only 2:51 remaining in the second period. The former Stockton Thunder man collected a loose puck at the hash marks and fired a wrist shot off the pipe and into the top corner of the net.

Manchester opened the scoring in the third period through a Michael Boivin goal form the left hand circle. The Monarch defenseman took a feed from teammate Matt Leitner and beat Appleby low to knot the score at four. The scoring would remain knotted at four throughout a chance-filled third period, leading to a 3-on-3 overtime session to decide the winner.

After Mastalerz made a sliding save to deny Rob Bordson the game winner at one end, the Monarchs raced down the ice 2-on-1 and Alex Lintuniemi fired home the game winner at the 2:33 mark of overtime. Austin Block collected the lone assist on the game winning goal.

The Thunder conclude their pre-season schedule tomorrow as they travel to St. Anselm College in Manchester for a rematch with the Monarchs at 3:00 p.m. The Thunder’s regular season campaign opens on Friday, October 16 against Elmira before the home opener on October 24 against Manchester.

Full season, partial season, flex and group ticket plans are now available to renew or purchase for the Adirondack Thunder’s inaugural 2015-16 season, presented by Bud Light, along with an Opening Night pack. To purchase tickets, contact the Adirondack Thunder front office at 518-480-3355 x1, visit echlthunder.com/season tickets or stop by the Adirondack Thunder front offices, located at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

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The Days Of Thunder Are Coming To Glens Falls