Thunderbirds Outlast Moccasins, 6-5

Winston-Salem, NC – After being shutout last weekend at home, the Carolina Thunderbirds responded by rallying from three goals down in the 1^st period to defeat the Monroe Moccasins, 6-5, on Friday evening at the Fairgrounds Arena in front of 2,862 fans.

Carolina (4-1-3) started quickly with Gus Ford slotting his fourth goal of the year over the glove of Monroe (3-4-3) netminder Markus Ekholm Rosen, giving the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead within five minutes. After the goal from Ford, the Moccasins rattled off three unanswered goals over 10 minutes taking a two-goal advantage before Jon Buttitta netted his third goal of the year cutting deficit to one, 3-2, heading to the 1^st intermission.

Trailing by a goal, Carolina pressed the Moccasins, and after a long stretch in the attacking zone, Gordon Whalen sniped his first goal of his FPHL career, tying the game at three. Less than 40 seconds later after a deflection, Danyk Drouin snapped home his first goal of his career from the slot, putting the Thunderbirds ahead, 4-3.

The lead was short lived for Carolina as 1:46 later, Chris Corgan tied the game at four, but Jiri Pestuka got a Thunderbirds bounce centering a pass off the skate of Moccasins defender, Samuel Hou Gustaffson, and trickling into the back of the net, putting the Thunderbirds ahead for good.

In the 3^rd period, the Thunderbirds went to a penalty kill and Buttitta again struck on the shorthand. The Cleveland, Ohio native beat Ekholm Rose over the glove and doubled the Thunderbirds advantage, 6-4. Monroe made it a one goal game again 60 seconds later, but Carolina held on across the final 17 minutes to take the three points on the evening, 6-5.

Carolina and Monroe meet one more time this weekend on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.