By WJBC Staff

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Bloomington Thunder were out to make some history in Cedar Rapids in Tuesday night’s Game 5 showdown with the number one seeded RoughRiders.

The 5-2 win was tied all into the third period and the Thunder had to retake the lead three separate times to seal the win. After being down 2-1 in the series, the Thunder became the first Eastern Conference team to overcome the deficit and move on in the Clark Cup Playoffs since 2010 when the Indiana Ice beat the RoughRiders. Bloomington’s win keeps the RoughRiders out of the Conference Final for the fifth straight year.

Logan Lambdin and Jake Slaker have led the Thunder and the USHL in the post season and continued that trend with a pair of two-point nights. Lambdin scored both the first and final goal of the game for the Thunder. After sending the puck to the Thunder captain, Slaker shot one off the post. In the crease, the future Spartan skated hard to the net and scored the opening goal of the game a little less than three minutes in.

The RoughRiders tied the game to start the second period, but the score remained the same into the third. Hayden Lavigne stopped 29 shots in the game and was big throughout the game. The goaltender stopped a game high of 11 in the third period and helped the Thunder finish the night 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Across the rink, Ben Blacker saw over 39 shots on net for the second straight game. He made 38 saves again for the RoughRiders, falling for the second straight game as well.

Behind a game high 18 shots on net as part of a shooting gallery night of 43, the Thunder scored four in the third period. Sean Harrison scored his first career playoff goal for the Thunder to take the lead near the halfway point of the period. The Anchorage, AK native roofed it over Blacker on a pass from Steven Merl.

But the RoughRiders would not go down that easy, they tied the game a few minutes later on a puck that bounced off Zac Robbins’ foot and in. The Thunder fought back and their diligence paid off. The eventual game-winning goal came from the stick of Brogan Rafferty took his seconds goal of the series as it redirected into the net off the RoughRiders. The West Dundee native leads all active defensemen in the USHL with six points.

Hoping for a comeback, the RoughRiders pulled their goalie for an extra skater. Slaker came down and picked the puck up from the goal line, circled into the circle, and scored his third of the playoffs. He now has nine points (3g, 6a) to lead the league in post season scoring. Lambdin would add his fourth goal of the post season less than 30 seconds later on another empty net shot. Lambdin is second to Slaker with seven points (4g, 3a) in the playoffs.

As the countdown continued, the Thunder flew off the bench to celebrate with Lavigne after taking down the number one team in the USHL.

Bloomington will move on to face the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the Eastern Conference Final as the USHL’s Clark Cup moves to the final four teams. The Thunder will head to Dubuque on Friday night to battle the Fighting Saints at 7:35 from the Mystique Ice Center.

The Thunder will return home to play Game 3 on May 6.