The Carolina Thunderbirds are still alive.
The Thunderbirds made yet another comeback on the road late Sunday night to beat the Columbus River Dragons, 2-1, in double overtime in Georgia.
The hero this time was Gus Ford. His goal gave the Thunderbirds the series and a berth into the Federal Prospects Hockey League Commissioner’s Cup championship series.
Carolina will play host to the Binghamton Black Bears on Friday and Saturday nights at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena to start the best-of-five series. Games three, four and five are scheduled for Binghamton, New York for the second weekend in May.
The Thunderbirds beat the River Dragons for the second straight game in overtime on the road. The River Dragons won the first game of the series on Friday night in Winston-Salem.
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In Sunday’s game the Thunderbirds fell behind,1-0, but James Farmer’s goal with less than eight minutes to play in the third period tied the game. Farmer, who had only one goal in the regular season, picked the right time to get No. 2.
Meanwhile, goalie Mario Cavaliere played one of his best games of the season, making 41 saves. He made several big saves in the overtimes to keep the Thunderbirds’ season alive.
On Ford’s goal in the second overtime, Dawson Baker was credited with an assist.
The Thunderbirds, who went 2-2 against the Black Bears in the regular-season, have had 11 come-from-behind wins this season. Coach Steve Harrison’s team went 40-12-4 in the regular-season and are in the FPHL championship series for the second straight season.
Carolina won the title in 2019 and was on its way to another title in 2020 when COVID-19 cancelled the season just before the playoffs were set to begin.
Friday’s game is at 7:30 p.m. at the Fairgrounds Arena and Saturday’s game is at 6 p.m.