In a surprising turn of events, the No. 7 seed Evansville Thunderbolts secured a 2-0 victory over the defending champion No. 1 Peoria Rivermen in Game 1 of the SPHL semifinals held at Carver Arena. Evansville's Logan vande Meerakker broke the scoreless tie in the third period with a breakaway goal, sealing the win with an empty-netter from Aidan Litke. The Rivermen now face elimination in Game 2 scheduled in Evansville.
Both teams struggled to generate shots throughout the game, with a total of 19 shots taken in the first 40 minutes. Despite the return of key players like Zach Wilkie and Mike McChesney, the Rivermen failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities, with their top goal scorers unable to register a shot on goal through two periods. Evansville's victory over Peoria comes on the heels of their upset against the No. 2 seed Huntsville in the first round of the playoffs.