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Probably the hardest thing that Anthony Noreen has to deal with in his day-to-day operations with the Youngstown Phantoms is consistency.  The Phantoms just didn’t look like themselves on Friday night, falling to Team USA, 2-1.  The Phantoms played much better after being handled rather easily by Team USA in earlier games this season, but just couldn’t get untracked with the puck.

“It’s extremely hard to be consistent in this league”, remarked Noreen.  “They are playing in this league to learn that consistency.  The difference between our guys and guys who play 82 games in the NHL, is that they are always executing and competing, night in and night out.”

In the first period, Youngstown raced out to an early 1-0 lead.  Managing only six shots in the first period, the Phantoms snuck the second of those shots past Team USA’s netminder, Curtis Frye.  Scoring his first goal as a Phantom was Zach Tatrn at the 5:31 mark.  J. T. Stenglein recorded an assist.  Team USA would respond on a Tyler Motte goal to tie the game after the first period.

The physicality of the game took shape in the second period as both teams pushed the pace and delivered some bone-crushing hits.  Matt O’Connor and Frye held their ground between the pipes and nobody recorded a goal in the second period.  Through two, the Phantoms recorded eleven shots on goal and Team USA posted 17.  Despite the lack of offensive fireworks, the game was entertaining because both teams were well-coached  and highly skilled.

“We are used to winning games when they are close”, remarked Noreen.  “However, we came much closer to winning tonight than we have in our other games against them [Team USA].  Our work ethic was ok tonight, but not good enough to beat an elite team like that.”

In the third period, much of the action was taking place in the Phantoms zone.  Team USA seemed like they could take the lead on several different occasions, but O’Connor and the defense responded with each rush by getting just enough of the puck to stop the threat or delay the process.  With just under nine minutes left in the game, Ryan Belonger stole the puck and got behind the defense, but never really got a chance to pull the trigger.

With 7:13 left in the game, Tyler Kelleher took the puck on the left side of the goal crease and quickly circled behind the net to beat O’Connor on a wraparound.  Kelleher’s goal was his sixth of the season and came on a rebound of a Connor Chatham shot.

“There aren’t many goalies in the league that could have stopped that shot, he [Kelleher] is one of their best players and that was really the first open seam they saw in the third period”, said Noreen.

The Phantoms (18-10-2) turned up the heat on offense the last five minutes of the game.  The home team finished with 17 shots on goal, while Team USA (12-10-3) had 27 chances.

These two teams meet again Saturday night.

The Youngstown State women are headed into the hardest part of their schedule, and it got off to a rough start at the Beeghly Center on Thursday.  Loyola built an early ten point lead and never led by less than that until very late in the game, cruising to a 82-77 win over the Lady Penguins.

YSU made it interesting late, but the Ramblers weathered the storm for the win.  When asked if his team may have pulled it out if there were a couple more minutes to play, Coach Bob Boldon remarked, “If it would have went twenty minutes longer, they probably would have scored 100, I’m not sure what we would have ended up with.”

In the first half, Loyola continuously took advantage of an aggressive Penguins defense by working the ball to either wing and throwing cross-court passes to wide open shooters.  Three-point shooting was the key to the Penguins woes on offense in the first half.  YSU shot a dismal 3-18 from long range.  Kelsea Fickiesen hustled for the Penguins  in the first half and seemed to be in a higher gear than her teammates.  Fickiesen had seven rebounds, three on the offensive end, to keep the Penguins in the game.

“We were not getting our shots to fall early on”, said Fickiesen.  “When you shoot and miss a couple of shots, you have to keep shooting.”

In the second half, Loyola’s Monica Albano, who torched the Penguins for over 50 points in two games last season, caught a little fire.  The Penguins did a good job keeping Albano in check with only two first half points.  However, Albano was able to score 15 second half points.  Every time that YSU looked to be making a move, Albano would make a shot or pass that contributed to the lead growing.

The Penguins continued to scratch and claw to that magic ten point barrier but could not get past it. Heidi Schlegel had a nice put back off of an offensive rebound, and then hit a three to cut Loyola’s lead to 50-37 with 14:10 left to go.  With just over nine minutes to go, Monica Touvelle hit a three to pull the Penguins to within ten at 58-48.

Loyola just kept answering everything the Penguins did right on offense with buckets on their next possession, almost on cue.  With 5:07 left, Brandi Brown hit a pair of free throws to keep YSU in the right neighborhood at 69-58.  Typical of the way the night went, the Ramblers scored on their next chance to nullify any Penguin gains.  Simone Law was eating the Penguins alive in the paint.

With the Penguins down 73-60, Brown caught a Kenya Middlebrooks pass on a fastbreak chance and scored.  Loyola again responded when Katie Kortekamp breezed to the hoop for an easy bucket.  Middlebrooks connected on a three with 1:35 left to cut the lead to 77-68.  Fickiesen hit a three with 23.7 left to make it a 79-74 game.

Youngstown State (8-7, 2-2) got 26 points from Brown, including an impressive 12-13 from the free throw line.  Middlebrooks and Touvelle contributed nine points each.

“You can’t make that many mistakes and expect to win”, said Coach Boldon.  “You get what you deserve.  We lost to a very good team, although their record may not show it.  They exploited our defense.  They were very well coached and their offense was significantly better than our defense..”

Loyola (7-9, 2-3) was led by Law who finished with 21 points.  Albano knocked down 17 points.  Troy Hambric had another 12 for the Ramblers.

The Penguins welcome a talented UIC team to Youngstown for a 2:05 game on Saturday.

Anyone who knows me would guess that once they opened this article, they would see a picture of Drew Brees and a prediction that the New Orleans Saints would be the NFL Champions this season.  It kills me to say that I am going against my heart and going with the weather.  Green Bay will beat New Orleans in the NFC Championship game, probably in a foot of snow.

To me, the NFC Championship game will be better than the Super Bowl if the Saints and Packers square off at Lambeau.  Some would argue that Aaron Rodgers is not a cold weather quarterback because he played at California.  Conversely, Drew Brees played at Purdue, where it snows a little more regularly than the West Coast.

The Packers have a tremendous takeaway ratio, best in the NFL.  Neither defense deserves to win a Super Bowl as they have both given up boatloads of points at a time throughout the regular season.  The best defensive team, other than Baltimore, would be San Francisco.  The Niners have been winning games, not by blowing anyone out, but rather by allowing fewer points than they put up on offense.

Nobody really expected Denver to beat Pittsburgh.  That all comes to an end as New England will blow Denver out this weekend.  The secondary stinks, but Tim Tebow is about out of smoke and mirrors for this season.  Baltimore should beat Houston.  Look for Arian Foster to struggle on the ground, narrowing the pass game of the Texans.

In the AFC Championship Game, I see New England getting by the Ravens to face the Packers.  In the end though, too much Green Bay offense against that horrid defensive secondary that the Patriots have. Tom Brady will pull out a closer game than anyone will expect against Baltimore.  However, the lack of a running game will help Green Bay better cover the pass.  Rodgers will be shooting fish in a barrel.

My Super Bowl Prediction:  Green Bay 47, New England 24.

PS, if the Saints should overcome the elements and upset the Packers, shame on me for going against my own team.

Youngstown State senior, Ashen Ward, became the third Penguin this season to be given Horizon League Player of The Week honors.   Ward is sharing the honor with Wright State’s Julius Mays.

The award is the first for Ward and marks the first time since joining the Horizon League that three different YSU players have won the honor. Junior Damian Eargle won the award on Jan. 2 and senior DuShawn Brooks captured the accolade on Dec. 5.

Ward helped lift Youngstown State (9-6, 4-1 Horizon) to its best start since joining the Horizon League, knocking down 7-of-10 three-pointers as the Penguins defeated Loyola, 68-64, before a 71-50 win against UIC. The senior recorded 21 points in the overtime victory on Thursday before finishing with 22 on Saturday, marking the first time in his career he scored at least 20 points in consecutive games.

In conference play, Ward is tied for fifth in scoring average at 14.6 points per game.

Tied with the Milwaukee and Cleveland State atop the League ladder, Ward and Youngstown State hit the road on Friday, Jan. 13, heading to Valparaiso (10-7, 3-2 Horizon) for an 8:05 p.m. ET contest on HLN. The Penguins wrap up the weekend at Butler (9-8, 3-2 Horizon) at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 15, with HLN covering the game.

Hot is a weak adjective to describe the way YSU played on both sides of the court in a 71-50 win over UIC.  The Penguins (9-6, 4-1) ran out to a 15-2 lead and never trailed in a game that they played like they should win.  With a stretch next week on the road at Valpo and Butler, the Penguins seem to be hitting stride at jut the right time.

Ashen Ward led a barrage of offense filled with threes and second chances.  Ward finished the game with 22 points, his third in a row with twenty plus, all wins.  It also marked a season-high for Ward.

“We started well and made shots”, said Ward.  “Our defense actually created chances for the offense.  Blake [Allen] did a great job pushing the ball tonight, Damian [Eargle] was setting good screens, and everyone was rebounding.”

At the half, the Penguins held a commanding 36-22 lead.  Kendrick Perry, steady as they come this season, had nine points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Ward, DuShawn Brooks, and Damian Eargle all had seven apiece at intermission. Eargle also compiled three first half blocks.  For a team with no ‘big guy’, Eargle sure does play big.  The Guins managed a good 55% from the floor in the first half.

In the second half, Ward (above) heated up.  The Cleveland, Ohio native scored seven consecutive points on two threes and a free throw to give the Penguins a 46-24 lead with 16:26 left in the game.  Perry and Blake Allen ran a beautiful two-on-one fast break that saw constant ball movement ending with a nice alley-oop pass that Perry laid in.  That made the lead 55-28 with 13:14 to go.

“This is probably the best we have guarded since I have been here”, said Slocum.  “When the shots go in at a 57 % clip, it’s really pretty easy.”

With just over ten minutes to go in the contest and the result pretty well determined, Coach Slocum started to unload the bench.

The Penguins played balanced and unselfishly.  Ward finished with the most points, with 22.  Look for him to be named Horizon League Player of The Week by Tuesday.  Eargle was solid as he racked up 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocks.  Perry had 13 points, Allen contributed 10 more.

“Ash is our leader”, said Slocum.  “He’s the voice in the locker room, the voice on the floor, he pushes guys to practice harder, and he is probably the best leader I have had since I got here.”

UIC (5-11, 1-5) got 11 points out of Hayden Humes.  To their credit, UIC never quit playing and cut the lead to 64-47 with 3:33 to go, but the Penguins stockpiled enough wood in the shed to easily outlast them.

Kenya Middlebrooks scored 13 second-half points, and the Youngstown State women’s basketball team battled for a 55-48 victory at Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The Penguins led just 47-45 and had four seconds on the shot clock with 1:40 remaining when Brandi Brown hit a bucket in traffic on an inbounds pass. Valpo hit a free throw on its possession, and YSU went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:09 to pull away.

Youngstown State improves to 8-6 overall, which is its best start since the 1999-200 season, and 2-1 in Horizon League play. Valpo, which dressed seven players and played just six, dropped to 4-11 and 0-4.

Youngstown State returns home to host Loyola on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN.

* Courtesy of YSU Sports, John Vogel

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.