Thunder drop finale to Lincoln, settle for series split

Posted on March 19, 2017
Following a win on Friday, the Bloomington Thunder couldn’t outscore Lincoln during Saturday’s game, ending the series in a split. (WJBC File Photo)

By WJBC Staff

LINCOLN — Nicky Leivermann netted his first career goal, but Lincoln scored twice in each of the final two periods to top Bloomington, 4-1, on Saturday night and halt the Thunder’s season-high six-game point streak.

Following a 2-1 win on Friday night, Bloomington couldn’t solve Stars goaltender Josef Korenar on Saturday, as Korenar stopped 28 of 29 shots to help Lincoln negotiate the series split.

Lincoln scored the first two goals of the game in the second period, but Bloomington battled back to cut the deficit to one thanks to Leivermann. Playing in his first game of the season and second of his career, the Notre Dame commit registered a power-play tally with 3:42 left in the second period to make it a 2-1 game.

Cameron Burke set up the Thunder’s goal by winning an offensive zone face off and feeding Vlad Dzhioshvili at the right goal line. After spinning away from a pair of Lincoln players, Dzhiosvhili located Leivermann in the left circle, and the Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native beat Korenar top shelf.

With an assist on Leivermann’s goal, Dzhioshvili reached the 40-point plateau in his second full season in Bloomington.

Logan Halladay made 29 saves in goal for Bloomington, but suffered his first regulation loss since March 2 against Dubuque.

The Thunder continue a five-game road trip with two games against Team USA in Plymouth, Michigan, next weekend. After a Friday night match up against the Under-17 team, Bloomington will take on the Under-18 team next Saturday night. Both games are slated for 6 p.m. CT starts.

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