The Youngstown Phantoms (10-17-1,21pts) battled for a full sixty minutes and they were able to win a thriller as they beat the Sioux City Musketeers (15-11-2,32pts) 4-3. A two point performance (1g,1a) by Adam Berkle and a game winning goal byCody Strang gave the Phantoms their first win of 2011.

The Phantoms got on the board three minutes into the game when Quinn Smith put a shot on goal and Berkle found the back of the net with a rebound shot over the right shoulder of Musketeers goalie Jake Hildebrand. The Musketeers would answer with ten minutes left in the period after Ryan Carpenter passed the puck to Tim O’Brien who beat Phantoms goalie Greg Lewis to tie the game at one. The Phantoms led in shots 10-8 at the end of the first period. Lewis, making his second start of the season, put aside seven of eight shots in the frame.

The second period was scoreless for the first ten minutes but the Musketeers took a 2-1 lead at the 10:04 mark on a power play goal by Max McCormick. McCormick threw the puck in front of the net from behind the goal line and it glanced off the foot of Strang as it found the back of the net. The bad bounce was just one of many that has plagued the Phantoms this season. The Phantoms continued to battle and with 3:47 left in the period, the Phantoms would capitalize on a power play of their own. Chris Bradley was able to move the puck to Berkle who put a one-time slap shot on goal as Ty Loney tipped the puck past Hildebrand for the tying goal. The goal wasLoney’s eleventh of the season and Berkle’s second point of the night. Two minutes later, the Musketeers took the lead once again when Brad Robbins found McCormick who put a wrist shot past Lewis for his second goal of the night. The Phantoms went into the break trailing 3-2 but had 45 seconds of carry over power play time. With two bad bounces in the period, the Phantoms knew they had to move forward.

“With the bad bounces on both the second and third goals we had to remain positive,” said Head Coach Curtis Carr. “Positive thoughts led to positive things and we continued to battle. Our guys have not given up at all this season and our hard work paid off tonight.”

The Phantoms could not capitalize on the power play but just over two minutes into the period Stu Higgins struck for the Phantoms.Mike Ambrosia moved the puck behind the net to Ryan Belonger who found Higgins right in front. Hildebrand wasn’t able to make the stop as a Higgins backhander tied the game at three. Ambrosia got the assist increasing his point streak to five games. With the game tied at three, Strang was looking for redemption late in the third period. After having a goal go off of his foot Strang found the back of the net to give the Phantoms the 4-3 lead. Jiri Sekac fed Strang the puck who placed a beautiful wrist shot over the glove hand of Hildebrand.

“We worked hard all night,” said Strang. “It was finally nice to win one of these games after such a tough month. The goal off my foot made me feel like I let the team down but the game winner was a great way to pick everyone up.”

With the victory the Phantoms gave Lewis his first win on the USHL level. In two games played Lewis has recorded a 3.00 goals-against-average and a .900 save percentage.

“I was kind of nervous at the start,” Lewis said with a laugh. “I did not see a lot of shots in the beginning and I finally fell into a grove later in the game. Hats off to Cody for getting the goal and I am just so happy to pick up the victory.”

The Phantoms play their second home game in as many nights tomorrow against the visiting Muskegon Lumberjacks (12-10-6,30pts).

“Tonight is over,” said Carr. “We deserved this win and our guys should feel really good about this one. We need to come back to the rink tomorrow ready to play and ready to work just as hard as we did tonight.”