EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Jack Sampson formerly of Marian University men's hockey has signed a professional contract with the Evansville Thunderbolts of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).

Sampson (Portage, Mich.) closed out his career as a Sabre with his best season after recording 28 points with 10 goals and 18 assists.  Sampson skated in 75 games during his Marian career recording 17 goals and 37 assists for 54 total points.  He also had four game-winning goals in a Sabre sweater.  Sampson provided consistent offense for the Sabres and recorded a point in 18 of 27 games.  He had eight multi-point efforts with a pair of three-point games during the season.  His first three-point game came in the Superior Showdown Championship where he assisted three goals.  This earned him Sabre of the Month honors for the month of December.  He then had a goal with two assists at Lake Forest to clinch the No. 6 seed for the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs.  His lone multi-goal game of the season came in game one of the NCHA Harris Cup Quarterfinals against No. 13 St. Norbert.

The SPHL is an independent professional hockey league based out of Huntersville, N.C.  The league is primarily based in the southeastern United States but stretches into Illinois and Indiana.  The Thunderbolts currently sit in sixth place in the SPHL standings and are 25-16-2-0 for 52 total points.  The next home game for Evansville is Friday, March 10 when the Thunderbolts take on the Macon Mayhem at home at 7 p.m.