Latest news with #President'sCupFinals
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Evansville Thunderbolts gear up for President's Cup Finals
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — The Evansville Thunderbolts are preparing to make history in the President's Cup Finals. Their path to the final round was rather unconventional and they're still two wins away from a championship. Typically, when a teams finish the season 500, they are probably not the favorite to win the President's Cup Final, let alone make the game. However, the Thunderbolts did just that after taking down Peoria and Huntsville in the first two rounds. Their challenge grows stronger as they take on Knoxville. But as the mountain grows taller, Evansville keeps climbing and never looking back on the past. 'I think we're a completely different team than we were during the regular season,' says goaltender Cole Cerci. 'We just found a way to pick it up another another gear. And, we're excited to, you know, get some revenge on these guys. And I think if anything, it just feels us even more to come out hot.' 'Playoffs is a wholly different season,' says head coach Jeff Bes. 'Everybody starts at zero. We believed in each other. We went through some, ups and downs like I expressed earlier, throughout the course of the season. You know, now we're about 18 games left in the season. We all talked about what we wanted to do. Yeah, we wanted to make plans, but we wanted to go to President's Cup final.' 'We all just, bear down and looked around the room and realized we had something special,' says center captain Matthew Hobbs. 'Like I said, chemistry and just belief in the locker room is really, propelled us, into some success here.' The team has never been to the President's Cup Finals in their history. Evansville is just two wins away from the title. Game one begins on Wednesday, April 22 in Knoxville and game two will make it's way back to the Ford Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Thunderbolts head to SPHL finals for first time in team history
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — For the first time in franchise history Evansville is heading to the SPHL President's Cup finals. The Thunderbolts knocked off the top seeded Peoria Rivermen with a 3-1 victory. Evansville finished the regular season with a 500 record, it was an uphill climb just to make the seventh seed in the playoffs. 'With 18 games left in the season we all sat down and had a discussion about what we wanted to do,' said Thunderbolts Head Coach Jeff Bes. 'And that's when we made the decision that we wanted to make the President's Cup Finals. The playoffs weren't good enough.' A hunger and decision that didn't allow this team to quit after falling behind 1-0 in the first period against the top seeded Peoria Rivermen, Evansville didn't flinch. 'We all just had that feeling that we were going to win today,' said Thunderbolts Goalie Cole Ceci. 'Obviously it wasn't the start that we wanted but we were able to catch our bearings and everyone took a look at themselves and said, 'I have a little bit more I can bring.' Logan Vandamaraker brought his third goal of the postseason ultimately the game winning goal that sent the bolts to the SPHL finals for the first time as a franchise. As the focus now shifts to the final series but head coach Jeff Bes says nothing on the ice needs to change. 'We just have to keep playing the same way,' said Bes. 'We have to believe. We know we aren't the prettiest team maybe, but we are going out there to outwork them and do what we need to do to be successful and make the city of Evansville successful for us.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'It's a tough one': Peoria Rivermen eliminated from SPHL playoffs with Game 2 upset by Evansville in semis
'It's a tough one': Peoria Rivermen eliminated from SPHL playoffs with Game 2 upset by Evansville in semis EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Peoria Rivermen 2024-25 title defense ended in the SPHL semifinals Friday in an upset at the hands of the Evansville Thunderbolts. The Rivermen scored the game's first goal, missed some great opportunities to extend their lead, and instead faded to a 3-1 loss in Game 2 of the best-of-3 series, getting swept out of the postseason by No. 7 seeded Evansville before 3,287 at Ford Center. Advertisement Former Rivermen center Tyson Gilmour scored two goals, while rookie Logan vande Meerakker notched the game-winner in between. Defenseman Josh Martin scored Peoria's goal. "We went out playing Rivermen hockey," said Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel via phone from Evansville. "It's a tough one. It's not what we wanted, not what you play a season for, but I'm proud of these guys. "If everyone knew what our injury and sickness report was they'd be shocked. We finally played Rivermen hockey today. We just didn't get enough from our forwards, from our older guys, in this series. I think those guys who missed time on IR were getting better and building and I think they would have been there on top with just a little more time. "But we ran out of time. It hurts." Advertisement SPHL Semifinals box score: Game 2: Evansville 3, Rivermen 1 Peoria was the No. 1 seed in the playoffs after a 40-win season in which it won the William B. Coffey Trophy as league regular-season champions. Instead, the Rivermen joined the league's list of No. 1 seeds that failed to win the President's Cup, which now has happened in 15 of 21 seasons in SPHL history. Peoria Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel talks to his team after the defending SPHL champions were eliminated from the 2025 playoffs with a Game 2 loss to Evansville in the semifinals at Ford Center on Friday, April 18, 2025. In fact, the '24-25 playoff bracket has been blown apart with No. 1 Peoria, No. 2 Huntsville and No. 3 Roanoke all eliminated. Evansville will face the winner of the No. 4 Birmingham vs No. 6 Knoxville series in the President's Cup Finals next week. Advertisement The Rivermen were a combined 17-4-3 against those three teams during the regular-season. "We finished first and made it to the semis with a lot of first-year guys," Trudel said. "So many guys came in during the last month. We only had one line that knew what we were even doing on faceoffs. We just didn't have the time for that chemistry to build. "We tried to build it the best we can. I'm very proud of our group." A good start in elimination game The Peoria Rivermen celebrate a goal by Josh Martin that gave them an early lead in Game 2 of the best-of-3 SPHL semifinals against Evansville at Ford Center in Indiana on Friday, April 18, 2025. The Rivermen built a 13-3 shooting advantage through the game's first 17 minutes and took a 1-0 lead on defenseman Josh Martin's third goal of the postseason. Advertisement Peoria winger Carson Baptiste tried a backhanded wraparound at the right post, the puck rebounded out toward the hashmarks and Martin stepped into it, driving a low shot past the left pad of goaltender Cole Ceci at 11:36. Peoria earned a power play at 14:56 but did not convert, and referees Stone Sheehan and Mitchel Perry awarded Evansville a five-on-three power play for 1:35 at the end of the period. The Rivermen killed both ends of it and had a chance to tack on to their lead with two big chances in the first six minutes of the second period, but could not finish. Peoria veteran center JM Piotrowski had Ceci down at the left post but could not get a shot past him. A couple minutes later Braydon Barker walked uncontested to the doorstep off a draw during a Peoria power play, but Ceci shut down the play. The game turned against them Peoria Rivermen veteran center JM Piotrowski is stopped at the left post by Evansville goaltender Cole Ceci during Game 2 of the SPHL semifinals, which the Rivermen lost, 3-1, to Evansville to be swept out of the playoffs at Ford Center on April 17, 2025. Those missed chances caught up to the Rivermen later in the period, as Evansville tied the game on its third power play on a deflection from between the hashmarks by Gilmour at 8:58. Advertisement Evansville turned its attack up a gear after that. More: Coach of the Year: Peoria Rivermen's Jean-Guy Trudel wins SPHL's highest coaching honor The Rivermen were caught in a bad change with 75 seconds left in the period and fell behind for the first time as Evansville cashed in. Then vande Meerakker — who notched the game-winner in Game 1 on a breakaway — skated in two-on-one against defenseman Mike Ferrandino, kept the puck, and fired it through goaltender Nick Latinovich from the left circle for 2-1. The Rivermen thought they had a tying goal with 7:40 to go in the third period on a massive net scramble in which Ceci was down. But there was no red light and the referee waved no-goal. The play underwent video review and the call on the ice was upheld. Advertisement Peoria pulled Latinovich for an extra attacker with 1:51 left and generated pressure until the final seconds. But Rivermen defenseman Zach Wilke's shot from the left point was blocked with 18 seconds left and Gilmour picked up the puck and skated it all the way down to the doorstep to fill the empty net. "Our third period we were on our toes instead of our heels," Trudel said. "But we waited too long. I didn't want us to be disappointed. I wanted us to play desperate hockey in these playoffs like we did in the past, and I don't think we really did. You could feel it was slipping away. And Ceci was terrific, you hit a hot goaltender in a best-of-3 and it gets you." A playoff debut Peoria Rivermen forwards Mike Gelatt (left) and JM Piotrowski look for scoring chances against Evansville goaltender Cole Ceci during a 3-1 Peoria loss in Game 2 of the SPHL semifinals at Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., on Friday, April 18, 2025 Rivermen rookie defenseman Ayodele Adeniye was activated from injured reserve and added to the playoff roster before Game 2. Peoria released rookie center Jacob King in a corresponding move, and used Adeniye up front as a forward. Advertisement The Rivermen put together a top line with captain Alec Baer centering Jordan Ernst and Mike Gelatt. Mike McChesney centered Griffen Fox and Carson Baptiste, the latter a healthy scratch in Game 1. Garrett Devine centered Braydon Barker and rookie Zach Purcell on Peoria's third line, and veteran JM Piotrowski and Adeniye served as extra forwards. The Rivermen went with five defensemen, including lead man Zach Wilkie. River Readings Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel was named SPHL Coach of the Year for the fourth time earlier in the day. … Rivermen winger Carlos Fornaris missed Game 2 serving a one-game suspension by the SPHL for a check to an opponent's head in Game 1. … Rivermen and SPHL goalscoring champion Jordan Ernst (37 goals) was held to 1 shot on goal through the first five periods of the semifinal series against Evansville. The Rivermen shifted him to defense in the third period, a move that tended to result in offensive outbursts from Ernst this season. Advertisement This story has been updated with additional information and photos. Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@ Follow him on @icetimecleve. This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Rivermen swept out of SPHL semifinals by Evansville
