Archive for the ‘Phantoms’ Category

For the second straight year, Guy Fieri has come to Youngstown as a guest of honor of the Phantoms.  Fieri, personal friends with Phantoms owner Bruce J. Zoldan, attended the Kentucky Derby in Louisville in May with Zoldan when Animal Kingdom, owned by Team Valor of which Zoldan is a major investor, won in an amazing come-from-behind victory to win the Roses at famed Churchill Downs. Fieri joined Zoldan and his party in the winner’s circle.

The wildly popular Fieri, the host of NBC’s “Minute To Win It” and the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” was amicable and friendly with everyone who he crossed paths with.

Fieri’s advertised appearance on Veteran’s Day was well-publicized and the Phantoms enjoyed their biggest crowd of the season.  A lot of people left the Covelli Centre carrying barbecue sauce, Fieri’s newest creations.

Less than 24 hours after the Youngstown Phantoms handed defending champion Dubuque a 5-2 setback, the Fighting Saints returned the favor.  The Phantoms trailed 4-0 but fought back to make it 4-3 but never got closer.  Sam Anas had a pair of goals for the Phantoms in defeat.  Tyler Lundey also tallied twice for the visiting Dubuque team.

John Doherty got Dubuque on the board when he knocked the puck in for the third time this season.  Doherty was assisted by Mike Matheson on the opening goal that came 8:33 into the first period.  The Fighting Saints picked up another goal before the end of the period. Eliot Grauer got his first goal of the season with 1:30 left in the first to put Dubuque ahead, 2-0.

The second period saw the Fighting Saints put up a couple more goals to take a 4-0 lead.  Tyler Lundy connected twice for the visitors to notch his fifth and six goals of the season.  The first goal came at even-strength and the second was with a man advantage.

At that point, something kicked in for the Phantoms, namely Sam Anas.  Anas helped the Phantom get back into the game with his third and fourth goals of the year. Both of the goals scored by Anas were on powerplay chances, a department the Phantoms have really been struggling with.  Before the first Phantoms goal, the home team was 0-29 in their most recent powerplay drought. J T Stenglein and Richard Zehnal picked up assists on the first score.  Anas connected from a bad angle, something he has been pretty proficient with, unassisted to cut the score to 4-2 at the end of the second period.

Sean Romeo (above) got a start because Matt O’Connor was between the pipes in both, the Friday and Saturday games.  Romeo struggled at times but stopped some good shots by Dubuque to keep it close.  A three game stretch in three days is tough for a young team to perform at the USHL high-level brand of hockey.

In the third period, the Phantoms nudged closer when Stenglein picked off a pass and scored a shorthanded goal 7:34 into the final stanza.  Dubuque watched a 4-0 lead go to 4-3 with over ten minutes left in the game and the result still hanging in the balance. The Fighting Saints were whistled with 3:37 left in the game for slashing.  Unfortunately, the Phantoms only got one good shot, whereas the Fighting Saints took two.

The Phantoms were right there, one would get the feeling if there were three minutes extra to play, that they somehow would have found a way.  With the win, Dubuque raised its record to 9-3-1.  The Phantoms fell to 8-5-0 and showed a whole bunch of heart in the loss.  Many teams fold up the tent and switch everything.  Credit Anthony Noreen for sticking to his guns, as it almost paid off tonight.

“We did not play 60 minutes tonight, we only played about 40”, said Noreen.  “The first twenty minutes we did not play to our standards.  I told the team not to pay attention to the scoreboard and they were able to get back in the game.  In years past, this game may have ended up 9-0 instead of 4-3 because there would have been some pouting and they would not have stay focused.”

Without their best defenseman, Chris Bradley, and their leading scorer, Austin Cangelosi, away at a World Junior Tournament, give Noreen and the boys credit for being so competitive.  Both Bradley and Cangelosi scored goals for Team USA earlier in the day and Noreen surely could have used the points in Youngstown.

“The thing I liked about our powerplay tonight was that things just seemed more urgent”, commented the coach.  “I want our powerplay to go out there and outwork the penalty kill.  ‘Want’ to get to the net, ‘want’ to score goals.  There are a lot of teams in this league that we could hit that probably would not hit back.  That team [Dubuque] is the most skilled team in the league, but they are also one of the most physical.  I thought our physical play, for playing our third game in three days with a shortened lineup, was impressive.”

A night after seeing their four-game home winning streak come to an end, the Youngstown Phantoms took the first step toward starting a new one against the defending Clark Cup champions, Dubuque.  JT Stenglein and Richard Zehnal led the way with a goal and an assist apiece and goaltender Matthew O’Connor turned away 19 of 21 shots as the Phantoms (8-4-0) came away with the 5-2 win over the Dubuque Fighting Saints Saturday night at the Covelli Centre.

The loss was the second in a row for the Fighting Saints (8-3-1), who came into the night allowing an average of just 1.81 goals a game. Brent Norris, Sam Anas and Dylan Margonari (empty net) also scored as the Phantoms improved to 5-1 at home this season.

“The difference tonight was instead of worrying about who we were playing, we played to our expectations,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen. “And we did it for 60 minutes.”

Zehnal (above) opened the scoring 8:18 into the first period with a slap shot from the point that made it past Dubuque goaltender Gabe Antoni, thanks in part to a screen from Pat Conte. Dubuque, however, came back to tie it a little more than six and a half minutes later when Max Gardiner punched the puck past O’Connor in a scrum in front of the Phantoms net.

It appeared both teams were destined to enter the first intermission tied, but with 1:35 remaining in the period, Dubuque turned it over just inside the blue line. Stenglein nabbed the puck, cut to the middle and let loose a snap shot to give the Phantoms the lead 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

Norris, who was moved from center on the top line to wing on the fourth, put the Phantoms up two at the 15:14 mark in the second. The Ottawa, Ontario native refused to give up on a play, winning a battle in front of the net and muscling the puck into the goal.

“It wasn’t a demotion – more of a balancing of the lines,” Noreen said. “We knew against a very good, very deep Dubuque team we going to need four lines. He brought some offense that we needed. That was not a fourth line tonight.”

But Ray Siro was able to cut into the lead later in the second, scoring with 2:03 left to make it a one-goal game heading into the final period.

With a little more than five minutes remaining in regulation Anas got the puck at center ice and moved it to Zehnal on the left wing. The Czech Republic native toe-dragged around Dubuque defenseman Matthew Caito and let loose a quick shot. Antoni made the save but did not control the rebound, which kicked out into the slot, and a trailing Anas scooped it up and wristed it high to put the Phantoms up 4-2.

“It was just a little toe drag – a little lucky,” Zehanl said. “I just tried to get the shot off and Sam was there.”

With less than 10 seconds remaining and Dubuque’s net empty, Eric Sweetman knocked the puck off Mike Matheson’s stick at the point and it floated to center ice. It came down to a foot race for the puck that Margonari was not going to lose.

The Youngstown Phantoms and Muskegon Lumberjacks do not like each other much.  In a very physical hockey game, the Phantoms battled hard, but came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 score.  Guy Fieri dropped the puck, but the Phantoms were unable to get much cooking offensively for most of the game.

Nobody scored in the first period and the Lumberjacks had the majority of the chances putting 15 shots on net compared to the Phantoms ten.  The Phantoms could not capitalize on a two-man advantage.  During the two-man advantage, the Phantoms hit the post, but the puck caromed the wrong way.

The Lumberjacks put a goal up with 16:43 to go in the second period.  Ryan Lomberg got his fourth goal of the season for the Lumberjacks.  Max Shuart was given an assist as Lomberg beat Matt O’Connor from close range.  The Phantoms had their fourth unsuccessful powerplay chance late in the second period, but came up empty.  With a man advantage, the Phantoms extended a drought of twenty-one straight penalty chances without a score.

“Our penalty killing units did well, but our powerplay was not very good tonight.  The powerplay should be a momentum swing and goals are a bonus.  We could not hold the momentum tonight”, said Coach Anthony Noreen.

In the final 20 minutes, the Phantoms scored with 7:57 left in the game to tie the game at 1-1.  Ryan Belonger found the twine on a very hard angled shot.  For Belonger, the goal was his fifth.  Jordan Young and Mike Ambrosia were credited with assists.  Exactly one minute later, Muskegon reclaimed the lead when Joseph Cox picked the puck out near the blue line and skated the length of the ice letting a shot fly from the top of the right faceoff circle that went over O’Connor’s right shoulder and into the net.

The Phantoms biggest scoring weapon, Austin Cangelosi, was not in uniform and participating with the US National Junior Select Team for the entire three-game home stand.  Defenseman Chris Bradley is also in British Columbia with Cangelosi playing in the World Junior Challenge.

“We missed Bradley and Cangelosi tonight”, said Noreen after the game.  “They are on our first powerplay and Bradley runs it.  This is a team sport though and we should be able to do more from a team standpoint, and we just weren’t able to convert tonight.”

The difference in this one was the Phantoms inability to capitalize on powerplays and untimely penalties.  Even Guy Fieri’s presence and a loud crowd, by far the biggest this season at the Covelli Centre, were not enough to propel the home team to a victory.

The Phantoms were outshot 35-26 and looked out of sync on offense for a good part of this game.

Dubuque, the defending champions, will face the Phantoms Saturday and Sunday at the Covelli Centre.

The United States Hockey League announced its weekly awards on Monday and a pair of Youngstown Phantoms took two of the three accolades. Center Dylan Margonari (above) was named CCM Offensive Player of the Week and defenseman Jordan Young was named CCM Defensive Player of the Week for their efforts in a pair of decisive wins over the Tri-CityStorm and the Omaha Lancers.

This is the first time either Margonari or Young has captured the league’s weekly honors and the second time this season a Phantoms player has earned one. Earlier this season, Matthew O’Connor was named the Reebok Goaltender of the Week after shutting out the Chicago Steel.

Margonari, a Minnesota State – Mankato commit, racked up four goals over the weekend as the Phantoms recorded the first wins over Tri-City and Omaha in franchise history. The Greensburg, Pa., native scored the game-winning goal in the 5-1 win over Tri-City Friday and netted a hat trick to propel the Phantoms to a 5-2 victory over the Lancers on Saturday.

Young (above) recorded the first goal of his USHL career Friday night against the Storm. The following night in Omaha he saw increased ice time with Kevin Liss out of the lineup and set up Margonari’s third goal of the game. The Cave Creek, Ariz., native was + 2 on the evening and is currently tied for fourth among all USHL defensemen with a + 7 rating this season.

“He’s very good offensively, but where Jordan has really picked his game up is in the defensive end,” Noreen said. “He has blocked a bunch of shots and been a very good penalty killer for us to go along with running a power play and being an offensive threat every time he’s on the ice.”

The Phantoms travel to Muskegon, Mich., to take on the Lumberjacks on Friday before returning to the Covelli Center, where they are undefeated this season, to host the Indiana Ice on Saturday.

If Dylan Margonari had it his way, the Youngstown Phantoms might never leave Nebraska. After recording his first goal of the season Friday night against Tri-City, the third-year center from Greensburg, Pa., netted three goals to lead the Phantoms (6-2-0) to a 5-2 victory over the Omaha Lancers (4-3-1).

“It must be something in the air out here,” Margonari said.

After falling behind 2-0, the Phantoms – buoyed by a four-goal second period – scored five unanswered goals to record their first win over Omaha in the franchise’s three seasons. Sean Romeo got the start in net for the second straight night and turned away 17 of 19 shots to secure the sweep on their Nebraska road trip.

“We came out here saying nothing less than four points would be accepted,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. “We saw some adversity last night and we saw even more tonight, but the guys just kept battling.”

Margonari got the Phantoms on the board 1:53 into the second period with a quick snap shot from the slot to beat Lancers goaltender Thatcher Demko, who was making his first career United States Hockey League Start.

“Coach told us that it was a new goalie in net and to just throw pucks on him,” Margonari said. “That’s what I did and the snow ball just started rolling from there.”

Todd Koritzinsky tied it up for the Phantoms a little more than four minutes later. The first-year winger out of Middleton, Wis., got the puck from Richard Zehnal on the right wall, weaved through traffic and sent a back-hand five-hole for his second of the season.

“Todd is going to have a bright future with the Phantoms both this year and down the road,” Noreen said. “Tonight when we called his number, there was no doubt he was going to come through and he did.”

JT Stenglein gave the Phantoms their first lead of the night at the 10:59 mark in the second when he beat Demko with a snap shot from top of the left circle. With 6:47 left in the period, Margonari struck again, digging the puck from under Demko and muscling it past the goal line to give the Phantoms a 4-2 lead heading into the third period.

Just 28 seconds into the third, Margonari completed his hat trick, beating Demko with a glove-side wrist shot.

“[Margonari] could go an entire season without scoring a goal, an assist or any points at all and he could still be our MVP,” Noreen said. “He does everything the right way… and the guys feed off his energy.

The Youngstown Phantoms saw their four-game winning streak come to an end Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., when they fell 5-4 to Team USA. The Phantoms got a pair of goals from Austin Cangelosi and Ryan Belonger with the net empty, but ran out of time and USA skated off with its first win in five games.

“I think if there were a few minutes left in the game, we would’ve had a chance to tie it,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. “That’s not an excuse though. That’s why you need to take care of business within the 60-minute frame.”

It was a back-and-fourth first period that saw the Phantoms take the lead twice only to have Team USA knot it back up. Defenseman Kevin Liss opened up the scoring 6:58 into the period when he knocked in a rebound off a Mike Ambrosia shot. USA tied it up on the power play less than two minutes later when Anthony Louis snuck one low past goaltender Matthew O’Connor, who was screened.

Ambrosia regained the lead for the Phantoms on a fluke play minutes later. The Chatham, N.J. native got the puck in from center ice wound up and knocked it deep toward net for a line change but USA goaltender Hunter Miska was caught off guard. He mishandled it and the puck bounced past him and into the net to put Youngstown up once again.

“You’re going to get them both ways – lucky bounces and unlucky bounces – but that was fortunate for us,” Ambrosia said. “We’ve got to manufacture goals, so it’s whatever it takes.”

But with 5:19 remaining in the period, Connor Chatham found Evan Allen open on the back door and he had no trouble popping it in to make it 2-2 heading into the first intermission.

The second period belonged to Team USA, which took full advantage of a four-minute double minor to Mike Gunn. Defenseman Keaton Thompson scored a pair of power-play goals – the first by knocking in the puck after a bad bounce off the glass behind the net, and the second via a screened shot from the point – to give Team USA a two-goal cushion after 40 minutes.

Connor Clifton put Team USA up 5-2 near the midpoint of the third off a shot from inside the blue line that O’Connor couldn’t handle. Then, with 3:41 remaining, Team USA center Tyler Kelleher was boxed for tripping and Noreen elected to pull the goalie to make it a 6-on-4 power play. Team USA was able to kill off the penalty but the Phantoms retained possession and Cangelosi was able to knock in a rebound from a Chris Bradley point-shot to cut the lead to two with 1:32 remaining.

With the net empty again, Belonger shoved a puck five hole on Miska to make it a one-goal game with 25 seconds left, but the Phantoms ran out of time and Team USA skated off with the win.

“I think we showed that we’re not going to stop until the final buzzer,” Ambrosia said. “But we didn’t bring it for the full 60 minutes tonight. It’s disappointing but we’re still 4-2”

Austin Cangelosi is chasing Wayne Gretzky’s scoring record in his first stint out of high school, but Alex Gacek wore the cape for the home team in the end.  The Youngstown Phantoms got two goals from the gifted and youthful Cangelosi and Gacek buried the winning goal in overtime to lift the Phantoms to their fourth consecutive win as they got by the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders, 4-3.

Gacek talked about the game-winning goal.  “I went in two-on-one on the right wing and saw the whole blocker side open.  I shot there and by good luck, it went in.  We had a couple of turnovers when we lost the lead, but we knew we had the momentum and were able to capitalize.”

The scoreless first period saw good back-and-forth action with the opposing goaltenders and defensemen taking center stage as no one found the net in the first twenty minutes.  Matt O’Connor turned away nine Cedar Rapids shots and Jake Hildebrand recorded seven saves in a rare penalty-free period of hockey.

In the second period, offense was plentiful as the Phantoms put together a three-goal period.  Cangelosi (above) got the party started with his sixth goal of the season as he took a beautiful feed from Mike Ambrosia right in front of the goal crease and buried the puck to put the Phantoms ahead 1-0. Ryan Belonger nabbed an assist on the opening goal as he hit Ambrosia on the left board.  With good vision, Ambrosia spotted Cangelosi breaking from center ice toward the goal and made a perfect pass for the Phantoms.

Cedar Rapids tied things up at the 15:04 mark of the second period when Jared Linnell snuck one past O’Connor to tie the game.  For Linnell, it was goal number two of the season. Tanner Pond and Greg Amlong picked up assists for the Rough Riders.

The Phantoms showed what kind of shape they are in physically by closing out the second period with force and style.  At the 17:40 mark, newcomer Brent Norris (below), who signed earlier in the day, made himself a whole lot more popular with his new mates as he connected for his first goal. Stephen Collins was credited with an assist on the goal that made it 2-1 in favor of the Phantoms.

Cangelosi had more to say as he recorded a shorthanded goal with 53 seconds left in the second period.  Ambrosia got a turnover and hit Cangelosi just above the right face-off circle.  Cangelosi then danced toward the net and put the puck past Hildebrand while falling down for the goal.

In the third period, Cedar Rapids scored with 6:53 left in the game to pull within a goal.  They would tie the game with 4:37 remaining when Ambrosia was sent to the box for a broken-stick illegal equipment penalty.  The Rough Riders already had a pair in the penalty box and losing Ambrosia gave the Phantoms a one-man advantage instead of two.  With the Phantoms working the puck in the Rough Riders zone, a near goal deflected toward center ice and was scooped up by Greg Amlong who traveled half the ice on a breakaway chance and beat O’Connor to tie the game and force overtime.

In the overtime, Alex Gacek broke in off of the right wing and buried the game-winning goal, his second of the season, just 1:34 into the extra session.  The win gives the Phantoms their fourth win in a row and puts them at 4-1-0 on the season.  Cedar Rapids fell to 2-2-1 with the loss.

O’Connor stopped 25 shots and got his fourth win in a row as well.

Coach Noreen commented on the three goal second period.  “Our first period was just okay.  It was good, but not good enough to play with the elite teams like Cedar Rapids. The second period was probably the best period we played all year. We popped a few goals and three more shots hit the post.  It was good for our team, mental toughness wise, to have a team come back on us to see what we are made of.  I think in the past, you would have seen teams fold up shop after that, but these guys never got rattled and remained unfazed.”

The Youngstown Phantoms are proud to announce that defenseman Mike Gunn has committed to play hockey at Northeastern University beginning in the 2012-2013 season. The Livonia, Mich., native joins nine other Phantoms currently committed to play at the collegiate level and is the first player to commit this season.

The Phantoms acquired Gunn, 19, from the Chicago Steel this offseason just prior to the 2011 USHL Entry Draft. The three-year USHL veteran was voted one of the team’s assistant captains prior to the Phantoms’ home opener against Des Moines on Oct. 14.

“As a staff, we couldn’t be more proud of Mike,” Head Coach Anthony Noreen said.   “He’s a natural leader, he works hard and he’s as naturally talented a defenseman as we have. He has the size, the strength and the shot.  When he’s healthy, I think he’s one of the best defenseman in the league.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound blue liner has one assist, eight penalty minutes and a plus-2 rating in four games this season. In 39 career USHL games, Gunn has one goal, five assists and 89 penalty minutes.

Last season Northeastern went 14-16-8 and finished sixth in the Hockey East conference with a 10-10-7 record. Through three games this season the Huskies are currently 1-1-1, good for second place in Hockey East.

“Northeastern really attracted me because they have such a great coaching staff and it’s right in the heart of Boston,” Gunn said. “When I visited out there I got to stay with some of the guys on the team in the dorms and I had a great experience. I just loved all of it.”

Gunn said that Assistant Coach Rob Rassey, who was a four-year letterman at Northeastern from 2005-2009 and later volunteered as an assistant coach from 2009-2011, encouraged him to consider the Huskies.

“Growing up in Detroit, I followed Michigan and Michigan State, but when [Coach Rassey] came here he opened my eyes a bit to Hockey East,” he said. “He gave me some of the ins and outs of what goes on at Northeastern and it was a huge help.”

The Youngstown Phantoms have named their captains for the 2011-2012 season, Head Coach Anthony Noreen announced Friday.

Left wing Mike Ambrosia will serve as the team’s captain while right wing Ryan Belonger, center Dylan Margonari and defensemen Chris Bradley and Mike Gunn will serve as assistant captains.

Ambrosia, a native of Chatham, N.J., is in his second season with the Phantoms. The Princeton University commit appeared in all 60 games for the Phantoms last season, putting up 10G-18A-28PTS. He was voted captain by his teammates and the coaching staff.

“It’s a great honor to be chosen by your teammates,” Ambrosia said. “I’m joined by four great guys but this team is full of leaders and we’re all going to help each other. Coach Noreen always stresses team leadership and we need 20 guys to win every night.”

Noreen said Ambrosia has grown into a leader on the ice and in the locker room and was an excellent choice to wear the ‘C’.

“Mike embodies everything we want this program to be,” he said. “He’s not a guy who says a whole lot, but when he does the other players listen.  An individual act doesn’t make you a leader – it’s about how you conduct yourself all the time. I think Mike really represents that.”

O’Connor Named Goalee of The Week

Matt O’Connor was honored by the USHL last week.  The second year Youngstown Phantom was named the top goaltender for the week as he posted a shutout, on the road, to garner the award.

O’Connor backed up the choice on Friday night against Des Moines as he stopped 30-32 shots and recovered from a sluggish first period to keep the Buccaneers scoreless in the final two frames.  The 6’5″ net minder is very competitive, works hard, and seems poised to be the guy between the pipes for the 3-1 Phantoms this season.