The Youngstown Phantoms, coming off of a rough road trip, needed to nab a win at home.  The big hurdle to clear to succeed this goal would be to knock off unbeaten Lincoln.  The Phntoms had chances but could not hit the back of the net as often as they would have liked, falling 4-1 to the still undefeated Stars.

In the first period, the Stars jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead.  Daniel Willett scored just 2:06 after the puck was dropped.  It was Willett’s first goal of the season and was unassisted.

The Phantoms showed some life when they tied the game at a goal apiece.  At the 8:21 mark, Luke Stork tallied his third score of the year.  Todd Koritzinsky and JT Stenglein  were credited with assists on the game-tying goal.

The Stars then hit the gas pedal scoring two more goals to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.  Tommy Schutt and Luke Johnson scored the two goals against Phantoms goaltender, Patrick Spano (above).  Sean Romeo would replace Spano to start the second period.

The Phantoms had chances to score in the second period, once on a breakaway, and once on a powerplay.  The Stars had only 18 shots on goal compared to 23 for the Phantoms.  Nobody could hit the twin in the second though, and the Stars retained their 3-1 lead.

Many Phantoms missed the game because of injuries.  Kyle Connor (upper body), Alfred Larsson (hand), John Padulo (hand) and Dan Renouf (wrist) were just a few of the scratches for the Phantoms.  The physical prowess that Padulo and Renouf present on defense was obviously missing.

In the third period, the Phantoms seemed to physically keep up better than the first two periods.  Again, when it seemed the Phantoms would tighten the game up with a goal, the Stars would clamp down on defense.

Lincoln ended up taking less shots (26) than the Phantoms (30), but their shots were easier scoring chances.  Take nothing away from Stars goalee, Jacob Teichroeb, who made some very nice plays between the pipes to preserve the in for the Stars (7-0-0).