Archive for the ‘Phantoms’ Category

• The Youngstown Phantoms continued to struggle over the weekend going 0-3.  The road trip started with a 4-1 loss at Waterloo on Friday.  Jiri Sekac scored the lone goal in the loss.  Sioux Falls hammered the Phantoms, 8-4, on Saturday.  After jumping out to a 1-0 lead, Sioux Falls scored four unanswered goals to take control of the game.  The third game of the trip on Sunday was a 5-2 loss to Sioux City.  Andrew Sinelli scored his first Phantoms goal in defeat and Quinn Smith stayed hot tallying his fifth point in four games for Youngstown.
• Dylan Margonari (pictured) has made a commitment to play at Minnesota State at Mankato next season.  He plans on studying business management while attending college.  Margonari is the tenth Phantom on the active roster to commit to a college already this season.
• Scott Mayfield will skate for Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge.  The Team USA roster is made up of 22 players, all coming from current USHL rosters.  The tournament goes from from November 8-14 and the Phantoms fine defenseman is playing in the challenge for a second consecutive year.
• The Youngstown Phantoms have acquired former Dubuque Fighting Saints forward Andrew Sinelli in a trade. The Phantoms exchanged their 2011 third round pick to acquire the Michigan State University commit. With Andrew Lamont on injured reserve, Sinelli will be placed in the Phantoms lineup almost immediately.

The Youngstown Phantoms rushed out of the gate to a 4-1 record this season.  Unfortunately, the injury bug has already sunk it’s piercing teeth into the depth chart of the Phantoms who have lost their last three games with a shortened bench.  The Phantoms looked to be getting reacquainted and played sloppy hockey for the first period, which was enough to cost them this game, bowing 2-0 to Green Bay.

Green Bay opened the scoring 8:18 into the first period.  Alex Broadhurst connected from just inside the right face off circle to beat Matthew O’Connor.  Broadhurst was assisted on his second goal of the season by Nolan LaPorte and Sam Herr.

Only 1:10 later, Green Bay made it 2-0 when Travis Lynch scored his second of the season.  Lynch took a pass from Grant Arnold and promptly flipped the puck over O’Connor’s right shoulder (below) to put the Phantoms into a big hole early.

Neither team would score in the second or third periods.  Both goaltenders played very solid games.  O’Connor finished with 42 saves for the Phantoms.  Ryan McKay faced less shots (28) but stopped all of them to earn his first shutout of the season.  McKay made some great saves, but also received a couple of lucky bounces.  The Phantoms hit the post four times, three  times within one minor penalty toward the end of the second period.

After the game, Phantoms Coach Curt Carr talked about the rough results.  “I thought we came out a little flat and I think that we are going through some growing pains right now.  I still like the way we battle and when we play our style of hockey, we are pretty good.”

The Phantoms (4-5) welcome in the Des Moines Buccaneers for a Saturday night game at The Covelli Centre. The puck drops at 7:30, catch some good hockey Youngstown!

After the unpredictability of the 2009-10 season filled with coaching changes, losing streaks, and the valid excuse of being a new team, Coach Curtis Carr is demanding stability.  Defending Champion Green Bay came into town to play the role of bad guy in front of a crowded Covelli Centre audience.

The Phantoms jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Ryan Belonger connected unassisted at the 3:57 mark of the first period.  For Belonger, it was the second goal on the very young season.

The Phantoms added to their lead when Ty Loney (pictured) connected for his third goal of the season jumping the Youngstown lead to 2-0.  Jiri Sekac picked up an assist on the goal that came just 1:01 into the second period.

Green Bay cut the lead in half  when Robert Francis snuck one past Phantoms Goaltender, Matt O’Connor (below).  Francis beat O’Connor at the 8:16 mark of the second period and received an assist from Jean-Paul LaFontaine.

The Phantoms hoisted their lead to 3-1  with 13:49 left in the game.  Quinn Smith tallied his first-ever USHL goal for the Phantoms.

Green Bay made a late push and cut the lead to 3-2 late in the final period.  William Kessel found twine after taking a feed from Austin Czarnik with 4:32 left in the game.

With the win, the Phantoms improved to 4-1 on the still new season, the Gamblers dropped to 2-2-1.  These two teams will hook it up again on Sunday with a rare 5 p.m. start.

After the game Curtis Carr talked about the advantage of having back guys with some experience to start a season.  “There is no doubt, it is very beneficial to not only have guys back with experience, but also guys who have good character and have played together.  The only thing I saw that we need to work on is to come out looser.  We came out sluggish and tight because of the jitters and pressure of playing Green Bay, last year’s champion.”

The inaugural season of the Youngstown Phantoms USHL membership came to a close on Saturday.  The Phantoms came out on the short end of the stick, losing to Cedar Rapids, 4-1.  Cedar Rapids is a strong team already locked in as a #2 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  The Phantoms played hard and have nothing to be ashamed of in losing to the Roughriders (38-19-3).  In fact, I am sure Cedar Rapids is happy to be leaving Youngstown.

The first period did not produce a score for either team and the Roughriders outshot the Phantoms 11-5.  Both teams had powerplay opportunities, but the man advantage would yield no goals either way.  Hits were plentiful and the refs were busy in a physical game picking up right where it left off Friday night.

At the 8:10 mark of the second period, the Roughriders took a 1-0 lead.  Michael Parks knocked in the puck to record his 11th score of the season.  Derek DeBlois recorded an assist on the only even-strength goal of the night.

Stu Wilson, who scored his second goal of the year on Friday, connected again Saturday.  Wilson’s goal was assisted by Thomas Fallen and helped the Roughriders capitalize on the two-man advantage powerplay chance.  Tibbett could not have done much to stop this goal as he was shielded and leaning the wrong way when Wilson let it rip.

With just 14 seconds elapsed on the goal that made it 2-0 in favor of the visitors, Cedar Rapids connected again to increase their lead to 3-0.   Max Bennett tallied at the 12:32 mark from close range.  The Roughriders were still on a powerplay, it just turned into a one-man advantage after the Wilson goal.

Jordan Tibbett stepped up and made a diving save, perhaps the save of the year, for the Phantoms.  Tibbett was blocked away by a crease camper and picked up on a flying puck coming his way.  The reaction to dive across the crease to glove the biscuit and rob Jeff Costello was brilliant.

Ty Loney, in his 17th game for the Phantoms, cut the Cedar Rapids lead to 3-1 with 3:25 left in a busy second period.  Dylan Margonari and Nick Czinder picked up assists on the Phantoms powerplay goal.

Cedar Rapids held the attacking Phantoms at bay in the final period.  Bryce Aneloski dumped an empty-netter in with ten seconds remaining in the contest to close out the scoring and insure a 4-1 victory for the playoff-bound Roughriders.

After the game, Phantoms Coach Curt Carr reflected on the team’s strong finish.  “We will be getting alot of these guys back next year, and these last ten games have shown people what they are capable of.  I would give them a grade of B+ over that span.”

The Phantoms finished the season with a 20-36-4 record.  After the game, which was donned “Fan Appreciation Night“, a jersey auction was held.  As I shook hands with many of the players, some of which will return to Youngstown next season, I realized how it is possible to take young men from all walks of life and geographically distant locations and assimilate their focus to a common goal. 

Some, like Jefferson Dahl, will play college hockey next season and will not be back.  Dahl enjoyed Youngstown and reflected on the up-and-down season.  “It is looking pretty positive here for next season.  There is a real good core of guys who will be back next year and there are some leaders, they will do some damage.”  Dahl is off to Wisconsin to continue playing hockey while he attends college.

Over a six month stretch, I was never bored at a Phantoms game, not once.  The staff and management worked hard to provide wholesome family entertainment.  The one complaint was that the attendance was not what I envisioned.  Dollar beer night at a Scrappers game packs the house.  At a Phantoms ‘bargain beer night’, attendance numbers stayed steady but never exploded.  With a beautiful facility to play in, I would only hope for increased attendance next season. 

With that being said, thank you to the Zoldans for the access and hospitality.  Thank you Bob Mainhardt for all of the great quotes and insight on what to expect at his level.  Thank you Curt Carr and good luck with the baby.  Thank you Matt Gajtka for being the ultimate professional and a friend at all times.  Thank you Richard Young for reminding me that there are consequences when you go on tilt.  A big thank you to all of the players and the very best wishes as you pursue your dream.

Cedar Rapids rolled into Youngstown with the #2 seed in their Western Division already locked up.  They had a 3-0 record against the Youngstown Phantoms on the season, and the Phantoms were 1-7 in their vibrant orange jerseys.  Throw all of the statistical logic out the window and ignore the past.  Youngstown physically smacked Cedar Rapids around and did anything but take on the role of a playoff tune-up in beating the Roughriders 4-1.

The game featured everything including a fight at center ice between the two goaltenders, two shorthanded goals on the same two-minute powerplay, seven players who are done for at least the regular season for a fight at the end of the second period, and a new coach, as the “interim” tag was taken away from Curt Carr’s name.

Cedar Rapids struck first as Stu Wilson knocked in his second goal of the year with 5:49 left in the first period.  Wilson got assists on the goal from Casey Hohmann and Andy Simpson.

With 3:46 left in the first, Scott Mayfield poked in his tenth goal on the season to tie the contest at one goal each.  Ryan Jasinsky was credited with an assist on Mayfield’s even-strength chance.

The Phantoms outshot the Roughriders 14-10 in a first period that went fast and had only one penalty, a two-minute minor. 

In the second period, the Phantoms picked up where they left off in Chicago as Adam Berkle scored two consecutive goals.  The first Berkle tally came at even-strength and Ben Paulides picked up an assist with 16:39 to go in the second period.  Berkle’s second goal came while Cedar Rapids was on a powerplay with 13:33 left in the second, Mayfield was given an assist. 

Berkle had a chance for a hat trick but whiffed on a nice centering pass, and he knew it.  “It happens”, declared a joyous Berkle after the game.  “It felt good, our line has really been playing well.  We want to go out the real deal, not an expansion team that is just here to be kicked around.”

Less than a minute later, Paulides connected shorthanded putting Youngstown ahead, 4-1.  The two shorthanded goals were only the sixth and seventh given up all year by Cedar Rapids.  Youngstown scored two shorthanded at Chicago on Wednesday night.  For Ben Paulides, it was goal #3 on the season with an assist from Mayfield, his third point of the game.

As the second period was coming to an end Cody Strang took a cheap shot to the back of the head.  Nobody stood still as a chain reaction of fights broke out everywhere, including center ice where Matt Mahalak and Cody Campbell battled in a rare fight between goaltenders (pictured).  As soon as Mahalak landed on top two more fights broke out with David Donnellan and Andrew Lamont involved.  When the teams were shuffled back to their respective locker rooms, seven players showered and are done for at least the regular season.  The Phantoms ejected for fighting were Mahalak, Donnellan, and Lamont.  Cedar Rapids lost Campbell, Stephen Collins, Jordan DiGiando, and Nick Lappin.

Mahalak talked about his first fight.  “We [he and Campbell]  have known each other throughout the years a little bit.  There really isn’t too much bad blood.  I got knocked into the boards a couple of times, he got rung too.  I was looking at him, and he was looking back and we met at center ice.  It was a decent fight, he had me tied up and I ended up taking him down.”

Donnellan talked about the fight as well.  “At the end of the period, one of their guys hit one of our guys and Mayfield grabbed him.  A kid asked me if I wanted to go, so I did.  We had to stick up for our teammates and showed the deep character of the team right now.”

The Phantoms (20-35-4) were outshot 41-29 but spent most of the third period in their own zone and played a defensive keep away game with a three-goal lead.  Jordan Tibbett did a nice job stepping in and made a few great third period saves to preserve the lead for the rejuvinated Phantoms.

These two teams lock it up in the season finale for Youngstown.  The inaugural Phantoms will not make it to the postseason, so they are treating these two games against the Roughriders as a notice server to the rest of the league to beware next year. 

As these guys have played their hearts out all year, Saturday’s finale deserves a nice crowd.  I encourage all Youngstown hockey fans to come and cheer the Phantoms on because hockey season doesn’t happen again for about six months.  Show support to the local team, they have been very active in the community all season.

Shots on goal usually reflect the type of hockey game that was played.  On Saturday night, Team USA only took 21 shots on goal.  Unfortunately for the Youngstown Phantoms, six of those 21 shots hit the inside of the Phantoms net.  Team USA rode their offensive outburst to a 6-2 win in Youngstown.  The Phantoms outshot Team USA 28-21, but the quality of the Phantoms shots were mostly routine saves for Team USA goaltender John Gibson.

With 3:39 elapsed in the game, Team USA struck first when Cole Bardreau connected on a shorthanded chance.  Austin Wuthrich picked up an assist on the goal which gave the 17-year old version of  Team USA the lead for good.

Team USA would tack on another goal with a powerplay score.  Alexx Privatera connected from almost straight on beating Jordan Tibbet.  Privatera’s shot was from about 15 feet and may have deflected off of Tibbet’s shoulder as it bounced the Gatorade bottle resting on top of the net as the puck hit the inside top for the score.  Travis Boyd and Robbie Russo gathered assists on the man-advantage connection.

The Phantoms would cut the margin to 2-1 when Jefferson Dahl scored a shorthanded goal.  Dahl’s interception and tally were good for his 16th goal on the year tying him with Tom Serratore and Brett Gensler for the team lead in that category.  The noisy crowd of just over 2,500 had little to cheer about after this goal.

In the second period, the Phantoms looked good in killing off a two-man penalty, but failed to score on three consecutive powerplay chances.  During the second powerplay, Youngstown did not even get a shot off.  Reid Boucher knocked in his tenth goal of the season to put Team USA ahead 3-1 with 4:37 remaining in the period.

Dylan Margonari picked up his third goal in his twentieth game as a Phantom to cut the Team USA lead back to a single goal at 3-2.  Margonari found twine with 1:57 left in the period while the Phantoms were enjoying yet another powerplay opportunity.

In the third period, goals by Dan Carlson and Travis Boyd hiked the Team USA lead to 5-2.  The two goals were scored less than two minutes apart and put the Phantoms in too big of a hole.  Wuthrich would add another goal with 4:46 left in the game to seal the deal for Team USA (25-29-4).

East Palestine native, JT Miller (above), talked about coming home.  “It is a pleasure to come home and play in front of my family and friends.  We don’t get to come back much during the year, so it is good when we get here.  It is a confidence booster to play here and you always want to be accounted as playing hard in front of people you know.”  Miller will move up to Team USA 18 year-olds next season saying he likes the two-year developmental program.

The Phantoms dropped to 18-35-5 with the loss.  When asked if the last couple of games left in the season were going to be experience builders for the Phantoms rather than trying to actually win, Coach Curt Carr responded, “We are still going to try to win.  I think if the guys know that we as a staff are just building for next year, it sends the wrong message, so we will be battling each day as if we were competing for a playoff spot and do everything we can to win.”

 

Goaltenders are wired a little different.  They usually are not the best skaters on the ice and rely on their reflexes to get their jobs done.  Jordan Tibbett and Matt Mahalak are the tandem that the Youngstown Phantoms have been using all season.  Any hockey fan will vouch that a teams defense makes or breaks a goalie.  The more shots faced, the more goals scored, that’s just elementary.  Both Phantoms goalies have done well this season but are very different as individuals.  In the first-ever Paneech.com dual interview, meet the netminders, Jordan Tibbett and Matt Mahalak.

Paneech:  How did you both end up as goaltenders, what was the draw?

Tibbett:  I thought the equipment was cool.  My dad always wanted to play but never did, so he stuck me on the ice.

Mahalak:  For me, when we were playing mytes, we would rotate at goalie.  One game I got in there and played pretty well and never got back out.

Paneech:  Unique situation, you are on the same team, yet you are in competition for starts.  How does that work?  Do you get along even though you are competing or does it get competitive?

Tibbett:  It gets competitive.  Really, through pushing each other we really want the best for each other.  The better he [Mahalak] gets, the better I have to get and I have to push myself.

Mahalak:  I have learned stuff from Jordan every practice, and I just try to pick up things.  We are both going for the same number one job, but we are pushing each other to get better so we can both get to the next level.

Paneech:  Is there a little light in your head that goes off when you are not in and you see your counterpart get scored on three times in a period, is there a response mentally, like, “I could have stopped all of those” ?

Tibbett:  Whenever I see a goal from the bench, I start to brainstorm and ask myself what he could have done differently to stop a shot.  Whenever we get a TV timeout, I can talk to Matt and tell him something I may have noticed.  I’m not over there going,  ‘Oh Yeah! Matt is getting scored on!’

Mahalak:  Same here.  I am looking for something that he might not be doing in that game to hopefully help him keep his head on straight.  We help each other to regroup to finish the game.

Paneech:  How much do both of you rely on the defense in front of you?

Tibbett:  It definitely helps.  If you see ten shots from the corner of the blue line, it makes your job really easy.  If you are seeing ten breakaways a game, it makes your job really difficult.  It varies game-to-game.  They are doing everything they can to help us out.

Paneech:  Why does a coach switch a goalie instead of a defenseman if you are facing forty-plus shots per game?

Mahalak:  Switching the goalie is because you are at a turning point in the game.  If a goalie is getting lit up, whether its his fault or not, the team will switch just to try to give an extra boost, or to create a turning point.

Paneech:  You both have little rituals.  When the puck is on the other side of the ice, Jordan, you like to skate across the goal line to the boards.  Matt, you usually drink water and then depart on your little trip.  What is the reason to leave the crease every dead whistle?

Tibbett:  It’s alot of things.  Whenever I am moving around when the play is at the other end or there is a whistle, it keeps my blood flowing and helps me to stay loose.  At the same time, you are getting mentally prepared.  Alot of goaltending is repitition and when you are doing the same thing before every game, and during every game, you go to a familiar spot that puts your mind and body at ease.

Mahalak:  I listen to the music and just try to relax.  Other times, I try to really get geared up and focus.  There is some superstition mixed in with all of the repitition.  Doing the same things over and over makes it easier.

Paneech:  You clear your head.  When the puck is on the other side of the ice, you guys have the best seat in the house.  You are still somewhat focused, yet you are now at ease a bit.  How often do you guys look around, watch the scoreboard, and take in the atmosphere?

Tibbett:  Whenever the play is stopped, I like to look up and see the replays just to get a different angle as to what is going on.  It helps me to have more knowledge in the back of my head to make better split-second decisions. 

Mahalak:  When you get scored on, the replay is played and you see what happened.  After the replay, you have to put it behind you and move on.  It helps refocus and regain confidence.

Paneech:  I have noticed at these USHL games, there are alot of times an opposing player will be crashing the net, stop on a dime, and spray ice flakes all over the goalie.  How mad do you get, do you put the hit out when someone does that to you?

Tibbett:  Players will do that in hopes of getting you in the eyes so that a puck may have a chance to get by.  It is just part of the game and something you have to play through.

Mahalak:  I don’t get too upset, I remain pretty calm.  Usually it is the defensemen that get upset over that kind of stuff.  I brush the snow off and just get back to what I am doing.  If they are doing that to me, I know they are trying to get in my head, that just means that I am in their head.

One Word Answers

                                                                                                                                                                 Tibbett                                        Mahalak

Favorite Meal:                             Dinner                                      Pre-game meal

Biggest Phobia:                              Heighths                                       Spiders

Best Movie:                                     Goonies                                         Surf’s Up

Best All-Time Goalie:                  Dominic Hasek                        Terry Sawchuck

What On A Pizza:                             Meat Lover’s                              Meat Lover’s

Music:                                     Anything, but Country     Anything, Especially Country

Worst Habit:                              Mumbling                        Sitting Up In My Butterfly

Soft Drink:                                 Root Beer                                     Anything Bottled

Fast Food:                                   Chik-Fil-A                                         Subway

Worst Thing You Ever Did:     

Tibbett: (Laughs)  I had a bunch of stickers of bugs and stuck them everywhere and watched my grandfather try to kill them.  It was pretty cruel.

Mahalak:  I haven’t done anything wrong yet.  I am the golden child.

Paneech:  Jordan, what do you thin is in Matt’s future in the sport of hockey?

Tibbett:  I think he is going to the NHL.  His first game in the NHL will be when he is 22. 

Paneech:  Matt, where does Jordan go?

Mahalak:  I think Jordan should be in college right now.  I don’t know what he is doing messing around.  He has NHL potential and hopefully he can get a scholarship this year.

 

Jordan Tibbett set a team record with 50 saves on Friday night as the Phantoms won a dramatic 3-2 OT thriller. Tibbett faced another 40 Saturday but was on the wrong end of the 3-2 score 24 hours later. To sum it up, Tibbett stopped 90 shots in two games, seemingly too many.

“It looks like a lot of shots, but we did a good job taking away the prime scoring areas.  They [Sioux City] are a team that does not score a lot of goals, and if you look at their shots they were just coming across the blue line and throwing the puck on net”, remarked Coach Curt Carr after the game.

Despite being outshot 17-3 in the first period, the Youngstown Phantoms found themselves in a scoreless game.  Credit  Tibbett for a couple of nice saves in the opening period.

Brett Gensler got Youngstown on the board first with 16:54 left in the second period. Gensler’s 16^th goal, which leads the team, came on a power play. Taylor Holstrom and Tom Serratore picked up assists on the man-advantage tally.

Nick Sorkin snuck the puck past a heavily screened Tibbett with exactly four minutes to go in the second period.  Dan Ford picked up an assist on the game-tying power play goal.  Sorkin fired from in-between the right face off circle and blue line around moving traffic.

Ryan Jasinsky, who was recently hampered with shoulder problems forcing him to miss several games, attempted to stuff the puck in from close range but was denied by Musketeer Goalee Jake Hildebrand. Jefferson Dahl collected the rebound from close range and knocked it in with 12:14 left in the game. Jasinsky was credited with an assist on the even-strength chance.

With 9:38 left, Adam Schmidt tied the game at 2-2 on a power play goal.  Stephan Vigier and Sorkin collected a point each with assists on the goal.

Mitch Zion put the Musketeers ahead 3-2 with 8:09 to go in the game.  The even strength goal gave Sioux City their first lead in the game.  Zion gathered the puck just outside of the goal crease on a rebound and drove it past Tibbett who was shaded left from the save he had just made.  Tommy Olczyk and Matt Paape were credited with assists on the goal.

Time ran out on Youngstown and pulling the goaltender as a last resort neither helped nor hurt the outcome for the Phantoms.  Put it in the books, Sioux City 3, Youngstown 2.

 

Interestingly, Coach Carr opted to start Ty Loney (left) and Dylan Margonari (right), two youngsters who have not been Phantoms very long, over experienced players.  “We are walking a fine line right now because we want to continue to perform and win games, but we also have some young guys who can return next year, so we want to make sure we do what we can to develop them for next season.  Dylan and Ty played hard and earned the ice time that they are getting.”

The Phantoms dropped to 17-33-3 in their inaugural campaign, while Sioux City improved to 21-23-8 on the season.  The Phantoms take to the road next weekend to face Omaha and Sioux City on consecutive nights.  Be sure to tune in to AM-1240 to catch Matt Gajtka as he calls the action from afar.

The Youngstown Phantoms returned home after completing a 1-3-1 road trip. The record on that trip failed to show that the Phantoms were in every game against three very good teams. Friday night, Sioux City rolled into town 20-23-7 and barely alive in the playoff hunt, a win was paramount for the Musketeers to stay alive.

Taylor Holstrom sent the audience home after 65 minutes of hockey and an extended shootout when he beat Sioux City Goaltender Matt Skoff on a five-hole shot.  The shootout goal came in the seventh round of the tiebreaker.  The teams were even at two apiece in the shootout when Brett Gensler tied it up with the last shot setting up Holstrom’s heroics.  The end result was the noisiest 1,300 people I have ever heard and a 4-3 Phantoms win.

Tom Serratore got the Phantoms on the scoreboard just 2:05 into the contest. The unassisted goal gave the Phantoms a lead on a Friday night, a good omen considering Youngstown had not won on a Friday game in eight straight chances. The goal was Serratore’s 14^th of the season.

Jefferson Dahl pushed the Phantoms lead to 2-0 when he beat Sioux City Goaltender Matt Skoff (pictured making a save). For Dahl, it was the 14^th goal on the year. The goal was scored at the 9:17 mark of the first period. Jiri Sekac picked up the assist on the even-strength goal. The Phantoms, who had not won a game at home since January, were playing hard early.

Sioux City got on the board when the Phantoms Adam Berkle picked up a ten-minute major for his role in a fight. The power play opportunity was successful for the Musketeers as Stephan Vigier tallied with assists from Dan Ford and Tommy Olczyk. The goal cut the Phantoms lead to 2-1 and Sioux City kept the one-man advantage because of the major penalty. The Phantoms killed off the remaining six minutes of the Musketeers power play.

With just 1:20 gone in the second period, Sioux City tied the game at two goals apiece. Nick Sorkin scored after taking a pass from Olczyk who picked up his second assist of the game. Richard Zehnal was also given an assist on the game-tying score. The remaining 18:40 of the period went scoreless and the teams remained deadlocked at two goals each.

The Phantoms took a 3-2 lead on Jiri Sekac’s even-strength goal. Dahl and Serratore picked up assists on the go-ahead tally with 13:33 elapsed in the final period. The Sekac goal came amid several flurries in the Musketeer zone over a span of two minutes.

 

Holstrom had a chance to make it a 4-2 game but he fanned at an open net (above).  He would later atone for the whiff and then some.

Vigier snapped in his second power play goal of the evening to tie the game at 3. Vigier beat Jordan Tibbett on a hard-angle wrist shot from the bottom of the right face off circle. Picking up assists on the goal were Adam Schmidt and Sorkin.

At the end of regulation, the teams remained tied at three goals each and overtime would be needed to decide a winner in the contest. After three periods, the Phantoms were out shot by the Musketeers 46-27. Jordan Tibbett made some pretty high-quality saves to keep things tied as the Phantoms who were 2-1 in overtime games this season, pressed onward.

In the overtime session, the Phantoms first since November 27^th at home, nobody scored forcing a shootout.

Ryan Carpenter took the first shot for the Musketeers. Wide Right.

Cody Strang had first crack for Youngstown. Wide Right. 0-0

Alex Krushelnyski beat Tibbett high. 1-0 Musketeers.

Jiri Sekac was next. Backhand shot. 1-1.

Richard Zehnal up for Sioux City. Nope. 1-1.

David Donnellan up for the Phantoms. High and Wide Right. 1-1.

Dan Ford, nope.

Andrew Lamont, nope. 1-1.

Final round, Tommy Olczyk good on a sliding move. 2-1, Sioux City.

Brett Gensler, with a chance to tie it, Good! 2-2.

Final shot, Danny Wurden, nope.

Jefferson Dahl, nope.

Seventh round, Nick Sorkin, denied by Tibbett.

Taylor Holstrom beat Matt Skoff with the backhand, Phantoms win!

What a finish!  These two teams will lock it up again Saturday.

After the game, Coach Curtis Carr was praiseworthy of his team.  “I felt that the guys came out and played really hard.  We have a young team and they were stressing when Sioux City tied it up at two, but to their credit, they rebounded and played a great third period.  Jordan [Tibbett] is a heck of a goaltender and he came up huge when we needed him to.  We were able to regroup which allowed us to come back and win this game.”

Phantoms hero Taylor Holstrom said his game-winning shot was not something he premeditated.  “No, I was watching when the other guys shot and kind of noticed the five-hole was open.  I think we are finally catching on and playing as a team, we are getting our legs back under us.”

Good teams find ways to win games.  Omaha is a good team atop the Western Division standings of the USHL.  Despite being outplayed and outhit for a majority of Saturday night’s game by the Youngstown Phantoms, the team that knew how to win managed to do just that, win.

The Phantoms got on the scoreboard first at the 10:35 mark of the first period as Brett Gensler (pictured above) got his 13th of the season.  Gensler went top shelf to beat Jeff Teglia.  Cody Strang and Ben Paulides picked up assists.

The Phantoms held a 1-0 lead after the first buzzard.  The Lancers outshot the Phantoms 15-10 in the period, but the Phantoms were hitting with intensity.  On one Lancer surge midway through the period, three consecutive checks by the Phantoms garnered the favor of the audience.  Youngstown looked a step faster in this one, at least in the first period.

Omaha dug in and scored at the 1:20 mark of the second period.  Camden Wojtala beat Matt Mahalak. Troy Power and CJ Ludwig picked up assists.  Wojtala’s sixth goal of the season came on a powerplay for Omaha.

With 2:40 left in the second, Omaha claimed their first lead of the game.  Tom Craig got his second goal in as many nights.  Stefan Demopoulos and Ryan Daugherty gathered an assist apiece on Craig’s even-strength chance.

Seth Ambroz scored with 12.8 seconds left in the second period to give Omaha a 3-1 lead to cap off a 3-goal period for the Lancers.   Greg Wolfe and Lancers Goaltender Jeff Teglia got credited with assists.  The Phantoms were definitely outhitting the Lancers, yet somehow, Omaha held a 3-1 lead after two periods.

With 2:41 left in the game, Taylor Holstrom drew a ten-minute misconduct and the Lancers would almost be able to kill the clock on an Adam Berkle 2:00 minor.

Phantoms Coach Curt Carr was pleased with the effort of the Phantoms.  “They [Omaha] are a very good team, one of the best in the league, and I have a lot of respect for them.  We are lacking a little firepower and we are getting chances but just aren’t able to bury the puck.”

The Lancers ended up taking 35 shots compared to the Phantoms 27.  That was about the only category other than goals scored that the Phantoms were outperformed in.  They checked, poke checked, passed, and outplayed a good team, but good teams find ways to win, and Omaha (32-12-3) is a good team.

Guest photographers tonight were Bryce Hall and Anthony Cervone.