Archive for the ‘Phantoms’ Category

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 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.”

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.”

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.”

The Indiana Ice jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first 31 minutes of the game, and the Youngstown Phantoms were unable to chip away in time, falling 5-2 Friday in the Pepsi Coliseum. Dylan Margonari and JT Stenglein scored for the Phantoms (16-7-2, fourth East), but an 0-for-5 night on the power play helped secure the victory for Indiana (16-7-4, second East).

The Phantoms, buoyed by three power plays, outshot Indiana 12-5 in the first period, but the Ice made the most of what few chances they had. At the 10:25 mark, Emil Romig found Justin Bailey sneaking into the slot and he swept the puck past Matt O’Connor to give Indiana a 1-0 lead. The Phantoms had a plethora of opportunities in the remainder of the period, but Jon Gillies turned away them all and the Ice carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Youngstown started the second period short-handed and went two down after a hooking call on

At that point, Noreen replaced O’Connor with Sean Romeo, who shutout the Ice for the remainder of the game.

“We wanted to get Matt some rest – we’re going back to him tomorrow – and we wanted to spark the team a little bit,” Noreen said. “Sean came into a tough situation – coming in cold off the bench against maybe the most explosive team in the league – and he shut them down.”

Margonari put the Phantoms on the board in the final minute of the period. The Minnesota State – Mankato commit intercepted a pass in his own zone, blew past the flat-footed blue liner and roofed the puck on Gillies, knocking the netminder’s water bottle off the top of the net. The goal, scored with 55 seconds left in the period, made it a 4-1 game after 40 minutes.

“We talk about not looking at the scoreboard and that’s something Margo doesn’t do,” Noreen said. “He plays hard start to finish.

Less than five minutes into the third period Stenglein cut the Ice’s lead in half. The Greece, N.Y., native got the puck with speed at center ice, navigated through the Indiana defense and beat Gillies with a low wrist shot on the far post for his team-leading 14th goal of the season. But the Phantoms were unable to capitalize on a pair of late-period power plays, and Tarasov scored an empty-netter to seal win for the Ice.

“Our guys don’t like losing – we’re not going to accept it,” Noreen said. “Hopefully we’re going to learn from it and have a better level of execution tomorrow.”

in the first minute. Daniil Tarasov capitalized on the two-man advantage and put a one-timer past O’Connor to give the Ice the two-goal lead 46 seconds into the period. Sean Kuraly made it 3-0 when he won a foot race and beat O’Connor all alone. Then John Doherty stretched the lead to four goals at the 11:05 mark.

The Youngstown Phantoms followed up a marquee win over first-place Green Bay Friday night with a convincing 7-4 victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers Saturday night to secure the second place slot in the United States Hockey League’s Eastern Conference heading into the holiday break.

The Phantoms (16-4-1, T-second East) got a pair of short-handed goals from Mike Ambrosia and Austin Cangelosi, and five other players – Soren Jonzzon, Dylan Margonari, Alex Gacek, Jordan Young and Eric Sweetman – found the back of the net to give them a win in one of the United States Hockey League’s toughest road arenas. Goaltender Matt O’Connor made 33 saves to enter the break with a league-leading 13 wins.

“Before the game, we said, ‘If we are going to get to where we want to get, we’re going to need to win on the road in a hostile environment,’” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. “[With the break coming up] we wanted to treat this game like a playoff game.”

Jonzzon put Youngtown on the board just 34 seconds into the first period, netting his first goal in a Phantoms uniform.  Des Moines (10-11-1, fifth West) answered just 73 seconds later when Mac Olsen deflected a centering feed from Garret Allen just past O’Connor to knot things up at one apiece.

Margonari retook the lead just 2:19 into the second when Cangelosi fed him in the slot on an odd-man rush. Less than two minutes later – and short-handed to boot – Cangelosi blew past the Des Moines defense and beat Kasdorf with a low wrister on the blocker side to put the Phantoms up 3-1.  But the Buccaneers came roaring back, scoring two unanswered goals to tie it again. Kevin Irwin redirected a puck past O’Connor while short-handed at the 12:35 mark and less than four minutes later, Trent Samuels-Thomas poked one past him in the midst of a scrum to tie the game at 3-3.

The Phantoms found themselves on a short-handed 2-on-1, but Cangelosi sent his shot wide. The puck, however, took a fortuitous bounce off the end boards and floated right onto Ambrosia’s stick, and he threw it on net and past Kasdorf, who was caught out of position, to give the Phantoms the 4-3 advantage heading into the third period.

At the 2:40 mark in the third, Gacek intercepted a failed Buccaneers’ clearing attempt on the right-wing half wall and beat Kasdorf with a wrist shot for his second goal in as many nights. The Buccaneers pulled Kasdorf in favor of backup Christian Frey, but he did not fare much better, and Young beat him with a point shot less than two minutes later to stretch the Phantoms’ lead to 6-3.

Anthony Greco made it a 6-4 game when he beat O’Connor on a 5-on-3 power play at the 6:41 mark, but Sweetman regained the three-goal lead when he beat Frey with a wrist shot from the left point. O’Connor weathered the remaining Buccaneers chances, and the Phantoms skated off with their third straight road win.

The Phantoms resume USHL play on Dec. 28 when they take on the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in Iowa. The puck drops at 8:05 p.m. EST.

Earlier this week, Youngstown Phantoms right wing Ryan Belonger said the team might need a lucky bounce to beat the first-place Green Bay Gamblers. On Friday night, the Green Bay native provided that bounce.  Belonger redirected a rocket point shot from Mike Gunn off of his skate with 13:06 remaining in the third period to give the Phantoms (15-6-1, T-second East) a 4-3 lead en route to an eventual 5-3 win over the Gamblers (19-4-1, first East) in the Resch Center. Luck, however, had little to do with it.

Mike Ambrosia had a pair of goals to go along with an assist, while JT Stenglein and Alex Gacek also scored for the Phantoms. Austin Cangelosi added a pair of helpers on both of Ambrosia’s goals while Matthew O’Connor made 26 saves to secure his 12th win of the season.

“Is it nice to get a win going against what’s probably the best team in the league? Absolutely,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. “But I don’t think we treated it very different from any other game.”

“It was a good confidence builder to know we have the ability to do it, but it took 20 guys going hard for 60 minutes to do it”, said Noreen.

The Phantoms did not take long to get on the board, taking a 1-0 lead just 2:23 into the first period off of Gacek’s fifth of the season. Daniel Renouf stepped into a slap shot from the top of the right circle and the rebound caromed to Gacek on the backdoor. The Miami University commit got it on his backhand, spun around to bring it on his forehand and threw it past Green Bay goaltender Ryan McKay into an open net.

The Gamblers tied it up a little more than three minutes later when Alex Kile found Sheldon Dries alone in the front of the Youngstown goal after a failed Phantoms clearing attempt. Grigory Dikushin put Green Bay up 2-1 at the 12:41 mark on an odd-man rush after a great feed from Peter Maric.

Belonger nearly tied it up with 15 seconds left when Cangelosi dropped it to him in the slot, but the Green Bay native’s backhand was knocked away by McKay and the Gamblers carried that lead into the first intermission.

Stenglein knotted things up on the power play 7:50 into the second period. The Greece, N.Y., native walked around the Gamblers defenseman to go in alone on McKay and then reached around the netminder to push the puck into the back of the net.

“He just willed that puck in,” Noreen said. “He had a bad angle coming in and his only chance to score was to walk around the goalie and he did that and put it in with one hand.”

Alexander Dahl earned a penalty shot when he was hauled down by Jordan Schmaltz after sneaking past the Green Bay blue-liner, but McKay made the save on his backhand attempt to preserve the tie.

Green Bay then retook the lead on a power play with 6:51 to go in the second. The Gamblers simply outmanned the Phantoms down low in front of the net and Sam Herr dug it out of a scrum and swept it past O’Connor. But just 79 seconds later, Ambrosia tied it once again. Cangelosi put a puck in Ambrosia’s wheelhouse and the Phantoms captain’s shot deflected off a defender’s stick past McKay. The teams ended the second period locked at 3-3.

After Belonger’s goal gave the Phantoms the lead, Ambrosia sealed the game with his second of the night. Cangelosi fed it to him on the half wall and he fired it low and past McKay to make give the Phantoms the two-goal cushion.

“I tell the guys all the time that if they want to know what our team is all about, just look at No. 14,” Noreen said. “Just the way he acts off the ice, watch the way he plays the game and watch what he does in crucial situations down near the end. Then, to hear him after the game in the locker room say, ‘this is what we expect to do, it’s no big deal’ – that’s the reason he’s our captain.”

The Youngstown Phantoms created memories for more than just their fans Saturday night at the Covelli Centre. The Phantoms (14-6-1, T-second East) defeated the Chicago Steel 3-1 and gathered nearly 700 stuffed animals to donate to Akron Children’s Hospital of Mahoning Valley from their third annual Teddy Bear Toss.

JT Stenglein scored two goals and Ryan Belonger netted one as well while Mike Ambrosia andAustin Cangelosi both added a pair of assists. Goaltender Matthew O’Connor turned away 24 of 25 shots to record his 11th win of the season.

“I can’t remember seeing him give up one rebound the entire night,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said of his goaltender. “He ate up everything.”

Chicago (7-14-1, eighth East) took the lead on the power play just under 11 minutes into the first period with Stenglein in the box for interference. Michael Fallon grabbed the puck off a failed clearing attempt, skated it in and wristed it past O’Connor.

But less than seven minutes later, Stenglein redeemed himself on the man-advantage.  Cangelosi handed it to Ambrosia on the half-wall and the Princeton commit skated it in the corner, drew the Chicago defense, then backhanded a pass through a miniscule opening and Stenglein punched it in on the backdoor.

The goal triggered a downpour of hundreds of stuffed animals from the stands that halted play for nearly five minutes as staff and players cleared the ice. When it was all said and done 681 stuffed animals were collected and the Phantoms and Steel entered the first intermission tied at one.

Stenglein found the back of the net again at the 12:08 mark in the second to put Youngstown up 2-1. Cangelosi skated the puck out of his zone and moved it over to Ambrosia, who got the puck on net from the left side. The rebound caromed out into the high slot where Stenglein was trailing and quickly wristed it back toward goal for his 12th of the season.

Belonger, who left the ice in the first period after a collision with Chicago’s Patrick Polino, stretched the lead to two goals 2:13 into the third. Steel defenseman Ryan Trentz lost the puck behind his net and Belonger got it on the goal line and beat Mathias Dahlstrom from the nearly impossible angle – especially for a right-handed shooter – to cap the scoring.

“It was a bit scary for us when Ryan got banged up in the first period,” Noreen said. “But he got cleared and goes out and scores a goal. Maybe that hit cleared him up a bit.”

The Youngstown Phantoms came into Thursday’s game against Sioux Falls winners of their last four games.  For about 80% of this game, a 2-1 shootout loss, the Phantoms looked like the dominant team. A late goal and getting beat in a shootout, the Phantoms fell to 12-5-1.  Sioux Falls pulled through in a nailbiter to end the Phantoms recent dominance and nab a big road win.

The Phantoms got their only goal in the first period despite being outshot 10-7. Stephen Collins found the back of the net with 2:26 to go in the first third of the game.  The goal by Collins was his first of the season.  Richard Zehnal and Pat Conte picked up assists on the goal.

In the second, both teams had powerplay chances.  In Fact, Sioux Falls had three of them compared to the Phantoms one.  Give credit to the defense of the Phantoms and Matt O’Connor to keep the Stampede off of the scoreboard through two periods. After 40 minutes of play, the Phantoms clung to a 1-0 lead.  The Stampede had 23 shots compared to Youngstown’s 19.

In the third period, the Phantoms played more physical but Sioux Falls was able to tie the game with 4:22 remaining in regulation.  Ed McGovern scooped up the puck just to the right of O’Connor’s stick side of the crease and pushed it past before O’Connor could turn to make a play on it.  The shots on goal still favored the Stampede after three at 29-22.

In the overtime, O’Connor made a couple of sensational glove saves to keep the Phantoms afloat.  Stampede goaltender Stephon Williams made some pretty saves in the extra session as well.  In the end, nobody scored and this game went to a shootout.

In the shootout,  Austin Cangelosi scored as Coach Noreen’s first shooter, but that was it.  For Sioux Falls, Justin Selman and Kyle Rankin scored.  Mike Ambrosia tried to tie it, but his shot sailed the crossbar and hit the glass securing the win for the Stampede.

“The negative was that we set a bar as to what our potential was,”, said Coach Anthony Noreen afterwards.  “We played ok and I even thought we played good at times, but we definitely did not to play to our potential.  The positive is that we got a point out of it and head out to our rival, Muskegon, to compete for four huge points.”

The Phantoms hit the road for games at Muskegon on Friday and Saturday.

The Youngstown Phantoms were nothing if not opportunistic Friday night, pouncing on turnovers and poorly placed rebounds to beat the Fargo Force 3-1. The game was Youngstown’s third win in a row and league-high seventh win on home ice.

JT Stenglein (above) extended his goal-scoring streak to five games while Alexander Dahl and Sam Anas also found the back of the net for the Phantoms (11-5-0). In goal, Matthew O’Connor was the confident, economic netminder that fans and coaches are coming to expect, turning away 19 of 20 for his league-leading ninth win of the season.

“He [O’Connor] was really calm in there – didn’t give up a lot of rebounds,” Head Anthony Noreen said. “Even after he let in the one, and they came at him with a little flurry, he was just what he’s been lately: the backbone for our team.”

Stenglein put the Phantoms ahead of the Force (5-10-3) in the first-period on the power play. Mike Gunn sent a feed for him across ice that was tipped by Fargo’s Austin Farley and into open ice in the high slot. Stenglein grabbed it and whipped a snap shot on net, beating goaltender Zane Gothberg on the glove-side for his seventh goal of the season.

Just 42 seconds later, Dahl notched the first goal of his United States Hockey League career to put the Phantoms up two. Defenseman Kevin Liss led a rush the other way and took a shot on net from the right half-wall. The rebound caromed into the high slot and Dahl, whose father made the trip from his hometown of Eau Claire, Wis., to watch the game, fired it straight past Gothberg.

“It felt so good to get it out of the way,” Dahl said. “It’s been a big chunk of the season with no goals and I was kind of frustrated, but it was nice to finally get going. I’m excited to show dad the puck. Really excited.”

Anas extended the lead to three goals with a little more than two minutes remaining in the second period. Fargo defenseman Justin Wade coughed up the puck below the left circle and the Potomac, Md. native gobbled it up and then fired it five-hole for his sixth of the season.

“There aren’t many people on our team or in hockey in general that can score that goal from that angle,” Noreen said. “And don’t think for a second that Sam wasn’t aiming for exactly that, because we see him do that all the time in practice.”