THUNDER SUFFER FIRST REGULATION DEFEAT OF THE SEASON

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Thunder fell for the first time in regulation this season as they fell 6-4 to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Tuesday evening at Cool Insuring Arena.

The Swamp Rabbits scored twice in the first period, beginning with Evan Jasper's second goal of the season just 50 seconds into the game. Jasper took a pass from forward Allen McPherson, sped past the Adirondack defense and beat Thunder netminder Nick Riopel fivehole for the game's first goal. Greenville would strike again at the 10:19 mark of the opening period as Joe Houk fired past Riopel from the right-hand circle. Houk's goal was his first of the season with forward Jack Nevins collecting the only assist.

Adirondack returned fire with a power-play goal from forward James Henry just shy of the half way mark of the second period. Thunder forward Tim Harrison, stationed behind the Greenville net, sent a no-look feed to Henry in front, who buried it between the legs of Swamp Rabbits’ netminder Brandon Halverson for his third goal of the season. Harrison and Pierre-Luc Mercier collected the assists on the play, extending Mercier’s scoring streak to four games.

Greenville answered directly back, however, as Dawson Leedahl collected his first goal of the season less than one minute after Henry’s tally. A point shot from Greenville defenseman Riley Sweeney took a deflection in front of Riopel and kicked directly to Leedahl at the back post, where he tapped it in for the goal. Sweeney and forward Caleb Herbert collected the assists on the play, Herbert’s sixth point of the season.

The Thunder came from behind to knot the score at three with a pair of late third period goals, beginning with forward Eric Neiley’s tally at the 10:58 mark of the middle stanza. Neiley capitalized on a Greenville turnover, skated through the slot and fired past Halverson for his third goal of the season. Less than five minutes later, forward Chris Calnan collected his first career professional goal to tie the game at three. Forward Terrence Wallin led a 2-on-1 rush, hesitated around the Greenville defenseman and fed Calnan at the back post for the goal.

The visitors completed the five-goal second period with Leedahl’s second goal of the game with just 2:13 remaining in the frame. With the Thunder shorthanded, Greenville capitalized on a tic-tac-toe passing play to regain their advantage. Troock fed a cross-ice feed to Leedahl, who one timed the puck past Riopel for his second tally of the season. Troock and McPherson collected the assists on the play, the second of the evening for McPherson.

Despite a 13-7 shots on goal advantage for Adirondack in the third period, Greenville collected the period’s first two goals to put the game out of reach. First, forward Adam Chapie took a breakaway feed from defenseman Leedahl and moved in on Riopel, where he went to the glove side for the goal. At the 13:26 mark of the third, Greenville captain Bretton Cameron scored his team’s second power-play goal of the evening with a tap-in at the back post. Sergey Zborovskiy and Chapie collected the helpers on the play, Chapie’s fifth assist of the season.

With less than two minutes to play, Harrsion pushed the Thunder to back within two goals with his second tally in as many games. With Adirondack on the man advantage, forward Chris Calnan fed Harrison in front of Halverson, where he slotted the puck home for his second of the season. Calnan and Neiley collected the assists on the play, the first assist of Calnan’s professional career.

With the defeat, the Thunder fall to 2-1-1-0 on the season. Adirondack is back in action at Cool Insuring Arena this weekend as the Thunder are home for a pair of games against the Toledo Walleye on Friday and Saturday evening.

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