Thunder Suffers First Road Loss of the Season

Indianapolis, IN (Dec. 9th) - Wichita suffered its first road loss of the season on Saturday night, falling to Indy by the final of 7-1 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

Istvan Sofron scored the lone Thunder tally with assists to Ralph Cuddemi and Travis Brown.

It didn't take long for the home team to get on the board on their Teddy Bear Toss Night. Michael Neal intercepted a pass from Marc-Olivier Crevier-Morin and one-touched it past Shane Owen to make it 1-0 just 2:51 into the game. The Fuel increased it to 2-0 with a power play goal as Matt Rupert whistled a shot past Owen's blocker. Sofron got Wichita on the board two minutes later as he found a rebound off a shot from Travis Brown and pounded it in at 8:22. Cam Reid added another power play goal during a two-man advantage to make it 3-1 with less than three to go in the opening frame.

Indy added four more in the second period and took a 7-1 lead into the third. Nathan Noel scored at 2:50 with a wrist shot from the left circle. At 6:13, Johnny McInnis potted his fourth of the year to make it 5-1. Cam Reid scored off the rush at 10:52 to increase the lead to 6-1. Neal recorded his second of the game at 16:15 to make it 7-1.

Wichita controlled the pace of the third period. They led in shots halfway through the frame, 11-3. Matt Tomkins made several tough saves, including a point-blank chance from Steven Iacobellis. The final horn sounded with the Fuel claiming the victory.

Sofron netted his fourth of the year. Brown has points in three-straight. Head Coach Malcolm Cameron moved alone into sixth place all-time in games coached in the ECHL (648). Tomkins stopped 40 of 41 shots he faced to claim the win. Shane Owen suffered the loss, stopping nine of 13 shots.

Wichita went 0-for-3 on the power play. Indy was 2-for-4 on the man advantage.

The Thunder finishes the weekend with their first-ever visit to the Wings Events Center to take on Kalamazoo starting at 2:00 p.m. CST.

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