Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder survived a battle of the unbeatens as they defeated the Orlando Solar Bears by a 4-2 final to pick up their fifth win in as many games to start the season.
Thunder forward Ryan Lomberg led the way for the home tea with a two goal performance, the first multi-goal game of his professional career. Linemate Mitchell Heard added two assists and a +4 rating, while Kent Simpson earned his second straight victory with 25 saves.
The Solar Bears originally got the scoring started 5:03 into the first period on a breakaway, power-play goal by forward Johnny McInnis. McInnis took a pass from teammate Eric Baier and skated into the Thunder zone uncontested, where he went five hole on goaltender Kent Simpson for his first goal of the year.
The Thunder answered shortly after as Michael Kirkpatrick netted a goal of his own on a rebound after forward Greg Wolfe blasted a shot off the back boards. Kirkpatrick’s goal was his third of the season and increased his point streak to four, while defenseman Luke Curadi collected the first point of his professional career with an assist on the play.
Early in the second period, Orlando once again capitalized on the man advantage, this time Patrick Watling finishing through a cluster in front of the Adirondack net. Watling took a pass from defenseman Brenden Miller and fired it in for his second goal of the year.
Adirondack did not stay down for long, however, as forward Ryan Lomberg rifled a shot from the hash marks past Orlando goalie Rob Madore to tie things up at two. The forward’s goal was his third on the season and marked the second straight game with a goal. Lomberg improved his point streak to three games with the finish, while linemates Heard and Mads Eller collected the helpers on the play.
The home team took their first lead of the game two minutes into the final period on Lomberg’s second goal of the game, this time coming on a redirection of defenseman Ryan Constant’s blast from the point. Adirondack skaters created traffic in front of the Orlando net, and reaped the benefits as Lomberg capped off a stellar performance with a big goal to put the Thunder ahead 3-2.
With nine seconds remaining, Rob Bordson sealed the game for the Thunder with his empty-net goal. The empty netter gave him four goals on the season, which is good for second on the team behind only Louick Marcotte.
With the win,, Adirondack improves to 5-0-0-0 and will look to continue their perfect start when they hit the road to start a six-game road trip against the Wheeling Nailers on Friday night at the WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, WV.
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. The benefits of being a Thunder season ticket holder include a savings of 27 to 42 percent off box office pricing. All full season, 22 game and 12 game Thunder season ticket holders are entitled to unlimited unused ticket exchange, playoff ticket priority and the ability to buy tickets all season long at the discounted season ticket price
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