Archive for January, 2012

The Youngstown Phantoms, powered by a four-goal outburst in the first period, looked as good as they have all year in defeating the Muskegon Lumberjacks, 7-3.  Matt O’Connor is too good of a goaltender to give that kind of lead to, and he and the Phantoms defense and special teams held up their end of the bargain in the win. O’Connor turned away 21 of 22 shots in notching his 15th win of the season.

The first period of the game featured four goals from the hometown Phantoms. Richard Zehnal got the party started with his fifth goal of the season just 1:43 after the start of the game.  Sam Anas earned an assist on Zehnal’s momentum-starting goal.  The Phantoms then broke an 0-23 powerplay drought when Dylan Margonari found the back of the net with a man advantage with 11:45 to go in the first period. Margonari’s ninth goal of the season was assisted by Stephen Collins.

The Phantoms showed no slowing up and Anas nabbed a goal of his own scarfing up a loose puck that was batted around the Muskegon crease for what seemed like hours, stuffing the puck past Lumberjack netminder John Keeney. Anas’ goal was also a powerplay chance in which Chris Bradley and Margonari were credited with assists. To put an exclamation point on a grand first period, another powerplay goal was recorded by the Phantoms. J.T. Stenglein notched goal number 15 with a man advantage. Austin Cangelosi and Mike Ambrosia earned assists. All that on just ten first period shots.

“There was a big scrum on that powerplay in front of the net”, said Anas.  “Eventually the puck trickled out toward me and I shot it high and it went in.”

Anas picked up a two-minute minor for roughing in the third period.  The scrappy Phantom possesses great skills and is about half the size as many of the other skaters the ice.  This penalty was hard to figure out though as Anas was in a headlock on the side of the net while the refs chased down other problems developing elsewhere.

“I have had penalties before, even picked up a roughing in Green Bay.”

The second period featured a frustrated Lumberjack team unable to convert on their powerplay opportunities.  Lots of pushing and shoving (26 penalty minutes combined on 12 penalties), lots of smack talk, but no goals for either team.  Muskegon pulled starting goaltender Keeney and inserted Paul Berrafato between the pipes.  The Phantoms held a 21-12 advantage in shots after two and handled their four-goal lead with care.

“We don’t like to judge on results”, said Anthony Noreen when asked about breaking the 0-23 powerplay drought.  “I thought we did a really good job protecting the puck. We watched films and told the guys to just keep it simple tonight.  Our powerplay has been good, we just weren’t scoring.  Tonight, after we got one, it was contagious and we popped a couple more in.”

In the third,  the Lumberjacks snuck one past O’Connor to make it 4-1 in favor of the Phantoms.  With 16:15 to go in the game, the Phantoms got that goal right back.  Mike Ambrosia connected for the ninth time this season.  Ambrosia’s goal was unassisted and swung the pendulum back toward the Phantoms.

With 9:56 left to go in the game, the Phantoms threw more wood on the fire as Stephen Collins made it 6-1.  Collins’ second goal of the season was of the even-strength variety and Michael Gunn nabbed an assist.

In picking up his 15th win of the season, O’Connor turned away 21 shots.  He was replaced by Sean Romeo with about five minutes left in the game.  Romeo gave up two goals, but to his defense, he was pretty well shielded from seeing what was coming on the Lumberjack’s first score.  Ryan Bullock got the unassisted score to make it 6-2.  Less than a minute later John Padulo beat Romeo on a rebounded shot that clanked the post.

The Phantoms (18-8-2) put the final nail in the coffin with Collins getting a second goal on the evening to make it a 7-3 game.  The goal came with 2:51 remaining and closed the door on the scoring.  Fights and tempers were plentiful and frequent in this one.  Carve it out any way you want to:  with an axe, like a Lumberjack, or a chainsaw, like a Phantom.

“We tell these guys to stay urgent and not pay attention to the scoreboard”, said Noreen.  “They did a pretty good job staying focused and executing.”

The Youngstown State men’s basketball team (8-6, 3-1 Horizon League) seeks to match its win total from a season ago when it hosts UIC (5-10, 1-4 Horizon League), Saturday, Jan. 7, at 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

This is the 28th meeting between Youngstown State and UIC in an all-time series that dates back to 1993. The Flames own a 21-6 advantage in the series. The Guins have won five of the last six contests played in Youngstown, including the last two games. Last season, YSU defeated UIC, 71-69, at the Beeghly Center.

UIC is currently 5-10 overall and 1-4 in the Horizon League. The Flames are coming off a 73-56 loss to Cleveland State on Thursday evening, but also have two overtime losses to league members Milwaukee and Wright State. Daniel Barnes leads the Flames with 11.3 points per game while Gary Talton and Darrin Williams are also averaging in double figures with 10.7 and 10.5 points per game, respectively.

If YSU can pull out they win, they would improve to 4-1 in Horizon League play and would also match the fastest group of Penguins cagers to get to nine wins since the 2000-20001 season.

This team is good, they didn’t play their best in an overtime win against Loyola on Thursday but still managed to come away with a win due to defensive stops and somebody different stepping up on offense the last few trips down the floor.

Earlier in the season, DuShawn Brooks and Damian Eargle played hot shooter roles for Jerry Slocum‘s team.  Ashen Ward has recently stepped up.  The senior captain from Cleveland is averaging 18 points and shooting 57.9 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range during that span. In four Horizon League games, Ward is averaging 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent behind the arc.

Butler used a 19-5 run in the second half and got 14 second-half points from Devin Brierly in a 73-64 win over the Youngstown State women’s basketball team on Thursday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

YSU grabbed its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with 10:08 remaining, but the Penguins did not make another field goal for almost four minutes. By that time, Butler had gone on a 12-2 spurt to take a 60-51 lead. The Bulldogs had one 3-pointer in the first 30 minutes and five in their final stretch, four of which came from Brierly.

Brandi Brown had 23 points and 12 rebounds, both of which were game highs. Heidi Schlegel and Monica Touvelle both finished with 11 points. Brierly had 19 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures.

Butler led by as many as seven early in the second half and held a 48-43 advantage with 12 minutes left. YSU scored the next six points and took a 49-48 lead on Melissa Thompson’s bucket in transition. Butler called a time out, and Mandy McDivitt hit a trey to start the decisive run.

Butler shot a season-high 50 percent and was one point shy of its highest scoring total of the campaign. YSU shot 35.8 percent and was outscored 32-18 in the paint and 19-8 in second-chance points.

Youngstown State will play at Valparaiso on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN.

Almost 84 years ago to the day, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team won their first game.  The win was on January 14, 1928 against Clarion in a season that consisted of just three games.  Fast forward through a Great Depression and a couple of wars and the Penguins, still progressing forward, nabbed their 1,000th win against Loyola, 68-64, in an overtime thriller.

“I’m proud to be part of this program’s 1,000th win”, said coach Jerry Slocum.  “You have to recognize Coach Roselli and what he has meant to Youngstown and to basketball.  It is important that he is mentioned on a landmark night like tonight.”

In the first half, the Penguins did a good job defensively and scored enough to hold the lead for most of the half. Ashen Ward had the hot hand the first twenty minutes for YSU, hitting on 4-6 from the field including a couple of threes.  Ward led all scorers at the break with ten points.

“We believed we were supposed to win this game”, said Ward.  “We have to keep our confidence and stay with our routine and we should be alright for Saturday’s game.”

The Penguins shot a dismal 43.5 % from the line on 10-23 shooting.  Ward made light of the percentage.  “Coach will have us shooting a lot at practice tomorrow.”

The Penguins had the lead up to eight with just over two minutes to go.  Damian Eargle had three blocks in the first half, a half that the Penguins did not give up a single point off of a turnover.  The result of the solid defensive effort was a 29-22 lead at intermission.

In the second half, Loyola came out strong.  Ben Averkamp hit his fourth three-pointer with 14:02 to go, giving the Ramblers a 40-39 lead.  The Ramblers increased their lead to four points at 49-45, but the Penguins roared back on a pair of Eargle free throws and a Ward three to reclaim the lead with 8:50 left in the game.

Trailing 53-52, Blake Allen nailed a three to give the Guins a two-point edge with 4:58 left to play.  YSU got the ball down two with 44 seconds remaining.  Perry was fouled with 22.6 seconds left in regulation and knocked down one of two free throws to tie the game for the Penguins.  Loyola played for the last shot, which went to Averkamp, but he could not get a quality look at the hoop and the game went into overtime.

In the extra session, YSU trailed by two when Eargle was fouled while scoring but couldn’t hit the free throw to give the Penguins the lead.  Gibler took a nice feed for an easy two to give the Ramblers a 62-60 lead with 2:42 remaining.  Ward was fouled and hit one of two charity tosses to cut Loyola’s lead to one.  Perry made a nice drive with about two minutes to go to give the Penguins their first lead of the overtime.

Eargle hit a fifteen footer on the right baseline to give YSU a 65-64 lead with 48.3 seconds remaining.  On their next possession, Ward stole the ball and was pushed to get sent back to the line where the senior from Cleveland drilled both to put YSU ahead 67-64.  With Averkamp fouled out, Loyola was looking to Gibler for offense.  The Penguins figured that out and DuShawn Brooks hit one of two free throws to make it a two possession game.

Ward led the Penguins offensive effort with 21 points.  Allen tossed in 11, and Eargle contributed 14 points to go along with his 6 blocks and 9 rebounds. Kendrick Perry had a balanced effort with 4 assists, 13 points, and 9 rebounds.

Averkamp was a nightmare to defend causing problems by hitting from everywhere on the floor.  It’s tough to compensate on defense when the other team’s big guy is knocking down threes.  Averkamp finished with 23 points , Walt Gibler was Averkamp’s Robin, knocking down 26 sneaky points of his own.

“Those two big guys took us to school in the post tonight”, said Slocum.  “The kids played hard and it was an ugly game but it was not because of a lack of effort, they battled.  We held Averkamp in check from about the nine minute mark and the defense had some big stops down the stretch.”

YSU (8-6, 3-1) faces UIC on Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.  The Penguins then head to the road next week for games against Butler and Valpo.

Youngstown Phantoms Head Coach Anthony Noreen is proud to announce that defenseman Eric Sweetman has committed to play collegiate hockey at St. Lawrence University beginning in the fall of 2013. Sweetman, 17, becomes the 13th current Phantoms player, and fourth this season, to commit to play NCAA Division-I hockey.

A native of Woodbine, Md., Sweetman has accumulated a pair of goals and assists for four points along with a plus-5 rating while playing in all 26 of the Phantoms’ games thus far this season. The 6-foot, 165-pound blue liner was selected by the Phantoms in the sixth round of last spring’s USHL Entry Draft and been one of the most team’s most reliable players since the onset of training camp.

“There’s never been a time all year – from the very beginning – when we questioned whether or not Eric has deserved to be in our lineup,” Noreen said. “He’s physical, he’s clean, he plays an in-your-face style, his transition game’s good and he plays our system to a tee.”

“When Eric talked to us about St. Lawrence, he said, ‘Coach Marsh is really good at developing defenseman. I feel like I’m going to become better under him,’” Noreen said. “And if you’re building a college program and looking for a defenseman out of our league to help you to the next level, Eric Sweetman is perfect for that role.”

Youngstown State men’s basketball fans can now vote to see the Guins take on Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 20, on ESPNU at the Beeghly Center.

Simply click on the supplied link :  Click Here

Retweet the link too!  The more votes the better, let’s show the country that we believe in the Penguins!

Posting his second double-double of the year, Youngstown State junior forward Damian Eargle (Youngstown, Ohio/Warren Harding) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, for the week of Dec. 26-Jan. 1. The accolade is the first of Eargle’s career.

Eargle helped Youngstown State (7-6, 2-1 Horizon) snap a four-game losing skid as the Penguins traveled to Cleveland State and knocked off the Vikings, 73-67. The 6-foot-7 junior dominated the post, recording 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Eargle went 8-for-11 from the field and hit 4-of-5 free throws, scoring 14 of his points in the second half to help the Penguins overcome a two-point halftime deficit.

Eargle is the second YSU player to garner the award this season after senior DuShawn Brooks was named player of the week on Dec. 5. It is also the first time since 2009-10 that multiple YSU players earned the accolade.

On the year, Eargle is averaging 10.5 points per game and chipping in 7.3 rebounds. The junior ranks among the top shot blockers in the country, swatting 4.1 shots per contest, good for third in the nation. After going two years without a road win in Horizon League play, Youngstown State has collected two in its first three games in the conference.

The Youngstown State men’s basketball team (7-6, 2-1 Horizon League) searches for the program’s 1000th win when it hosts Loyola(5-9, 0-4 Horizon League), Thursday Jan. 5, at 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

Decades of student athletes have contributed to this figure.  It is a nice accomplishment for a school, and it would be even nicer to see some support in the stands for the game.

This is the 26th meeting between Youngstown State and Loyola in a series that dates back to 1956. Loyola leads the all-time series, 14-11, and has won the three contests. Last season, Loyola swept the season series, including an 83-53 victory at the Beeghly Center. The last time YSU defeated Loyola was a 71-67 win on Jan. 9, 2010, at the Beeghly Center.

In the latest NCAA stats released on Jan. 1, YSU can be found throughout several categories. The Penguins rank fifth nationally wiht 9.6 3-pointers made per game, 20th with 6.8 blocks per game and 33rd with a .388 3-point field-goal percentage. Individually, besides Damian Eargle, Blake Allen is ninth with a with 3.2 3-pointers made per game 36th with a .438 3-point percentage.

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The Youngstown Phantoms were battling more than just the Indiana Ice this weekend and it showed. The Phantoms (16-8-2, fourth East) fell 3-0 Saturday – shutout for just the second time all season – while nearly a third of the team was fighting the flu as well.

“We’re not very healthy right now. We had about six or eight guys who were cleared medically, but were probably at about 60 percent,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. “Obviously Austin Cangelosiwas one of those. He played last night but was just physically unable to do anything [tonight]. That’s why he was out of the lineup, the same with Zach Tatrn.  But give [the Ice] credit. They had their chances and they put them in the back of the net. We had ours and we didn’t.””

The Ice (17-7-4, second East) jumped out a one-goal lead before the two-minute mark in the first period when Sean Kuraly spun a backhand pass to John Doherty on an odd-man rush and the former Dubuque Fighting Saint put it past Matt O’Connor. Then, after two straight checking from behind calls against the Phantoms, the Ice were given a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:25 and the league’s top-ranked power play capitalized. Robert Polesello got a stick on a Daniil Tarasov one-timer and redirected into the net to stretch the lead to 2-0 at the 14:29 mark.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the second, thanks to some terrific goaltending on both ends. About halfway through the period Todd Koritzinsky found Sam Anas undetected in front of the net and the Potomac, Md. native pulled the puck on his forehand and tried to stuff it in, but Ice goaltender Jon Gillies stretched his 6-foot-5 frame to get a glove up and make the save.

“Jon Gillies – if there’s a better goaltender in the league, I’d like to see him,” Noreen said. “He was phenomenal tonight.”

Then after a failed 3-on-1 attempt for the Phantoms, Polesello found Tarasov, who was floating around the Youngstown blue line, with a homerun pass. Tarasov went in on his own and faked backhand before bringing it to his forehand for the shot but O’Connor read him the whole way and denied the reigning USHL goal-scoring leader on the breakaway to give the Phantoms something to build on heading into the final period.

“In no way, shape or form should Matt have any blame tonight,” Noreen said. “He gave us the chance to win.”

Unfortunately, it was not to be. An overaggressive forecheck gave the Ice a 4-on-2 going the other way and Kuraly beat O’Connor with a one-timer from the right circle to stretch the lead to 3-0 with 12:55 left in regulation and it was more than enough.

“That third goal was kind of the way the weekend went for us,” Noreen said. “We made one mistake and it ended up in the back of our net.”