Posts Tagged ‘Matt O’Connor’

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 seem to have more gusto in their step than in years past. JT Stenglein and Ryan Belonger both scored twice to vault the Phantoms to a very physical 5-4 win over Sioux City.  Despite being outshot 26-19, the Phantoms were able to push the puck when it counted.  The win was the fourth in a row for the Phantoms (12-5-0).

Ryan Belonger got the Phantoms on the board first.  Belonger, crashing in from his right wing position, beat Matt Skoff (above) from just outside the goal crease.  The action started when Mike Ambrosia put a shot on net that deflected out to Austin Cangelosi who fired back in toward the goal.  Cangelosi was credited with an assist on Belonger’s seventh goal of the season coming with 5:48 left in the opening frame.

Sioux City responded with 2:46 left in the first to tie the game at a goal apiece. Kyle Criscuolo netted his fourth goal of the season beating Matt O’Connor.  The goal was scored at even-strength and Cliff Watson earned an assist for the Musketeers.  The first period ended without further scoring and the Phantoms outshot Sioux City, 8-5.

The Phantoms did well killing off a two-man penalty about halfway through the second. Dan Molenaar picked up a slashing penalty putting the Phantoms in a powerplay opportunity.  JT Stenglein made the Musketeers pay at the 13:11 mark as he found the net for the eighth time.  Jordan Young gathered an assist on the go-ahead goal.

“I told our guys that if we could kill that 5-on-3 penalty that we were going to win.  We went out there and drew up in practice how we were going to kill a 5-on-3, and to our guys credit, they executed it.  I don’t even think that they [Sioux Falls] had a great shot at scoring during the penalty“, said Coach Anthony Noreen.  “From a pure effort standpoint, that was the best effort we had all season.”

The opportunistic Phantoms went up 3-1 when they got an extra attacker on the ice awaiting a delayed penalty call.  The strategy worked to perfection as Richard Zehnal became the third different Phantom to put one between the pipes on the evening. Zehnal’s goal was his third and came with 2:50 left in the second.  Young was credited with his second assist of the game.  Sioux City cut the lead to 3-2 when Brad Robbins went top shelf on O’Connors glove side with just 15.3 seconds remaining in the period.

With 16:37 remaining in the third period, David Henry gathered a rebound off of a Jackson Leef shot that O’connor blocked.  Call it a bad luck goal that tied the game, 3-3.

Stenglein gave the Phantoms the lead at 4-3 with 6:49 left in the game on an unassisted goal, his second.  Stenglein wound up from the top of the right face off circle and his shot tapped the post and went in.  The Phantoms added an empty-netter with 51 seconds left in the game.  Belonger got the freebee to push the lead to 5-3. The Musketeers wouldn’t go away without a fight.  With 34.5 seconds left, the Musketeers scored to make it 5-4.  O’Connor and the defense survived the onslaught of offense in the final half minute to secure the win.

“It was definitely two of the bigger goals in my career”, said Stenglein.  “The coaches are putting us in position where we can make a lot of plays and my line has been playing really good.”

“Everything has been going my way lately.  You kind of are getting to a point in the season where you know that your line mates are going to be in certain spots.  We aren’t invincible, but we do expect to win, and we have a will to win.  It doesn’t matter whether we are down by five or up by five, we are going to stay even keel“, added Stenglein.

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.”

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.

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 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.

The Youngstown Phantoms had their home opener against the Des Moines Buccaneers on Friday night at the Covelli Centre.  The fans who attended were treated to an outstanding hockey game that saw 17-year old prospect Austin Cangelosi score a third period powerplay goal and later add an empty-net score to boost the home team to a 4-2 victory.  The victory marks the first time in their three-year history that the Phantoms won a home opener.

The Bucs got on the board 4:31 after the opening puck dropped.  Trent Samuels-Thomas found the back of the net beating Phantoms goaltender Matt O’Conner from short range. Drake Caggiula and Duggie Lagrone picked up assists for the Bucs on the goal.

The Phantoms (2-1-0) tied the game at 1-1 later in the first period.  Mike Ambrosia scored his second goal of the young season, beating Des Moines goalee Jason Karsdorf. The goal came at the 8:17 mark and Kevin Liss picked up an assist, his first of the season.

Before intermission, Des Moines (1-2-1) reclaimed the lead, 2-1, when Caggiula tallied his second point of the night on a powerplay goal. Samuels-Thomas picked up the assist for the Buccaneers who outshot the Phantoms 12-10 in the opening period.

A funny thing happened before the game started.  I was on the glass grabbing pictures of some of the new Phantoms and an older woman was smacking the glass and screaming.  I informed her in a polite way that the game had not started yet.  She said she was cheering for her grandson to have a good game.  The woman turned out to be the grandmother of Sam Anas (above).  She informed me that she was 80 years old and came all the way from Washington D.C. with Sam’s parents to see the game.  I promised her a picture and got a hug.

The only goal scored in the second period was, you guessed it, a game-tying goal from Sam Anas.  The goal marked the first USHL points in the young career of Anas.  Anas made a beautiful move on the Des Moines red line and burst past a defender before beating Kasdorf with a nice backhand just outside the front of the goal crease.  The goal came at the 11:10 mark of the second and evened the score to the delight of the Phantoms faithful in attendance.

“It meant so much for me to score my first USHL goal with my family here to see it.  It was great and I could not stop smiling”, said Anas, who has made a true jump in class as he was playing high school level hockey not long ago.  “There is not just a few strong guys or a few fast guys at this level, everyone is stronger and everyone is fast. Anything you get, you have earned in this league.”

With 7:54 left in the game, Austin Cangelosi, who was all over the place on every shift the entire game, connected on a powerplay chance that gave the Phantoms a 3-2 lead.  Ryan Belonger picked up the assist on Cangelosi’s fourth goal of the season.

“We definitely had more speed and energy at the end of the periods tonight”, remarked Cangelosi.  “Our chemistry here clicks.  We hang out off of the ice and work hard together when we are on it.  I don’t know if I can keep up this torrid pace with the scoring.  If I score great, if I don’t so be it, as long as we win.”

O’Connor really buckled down between the pipes after the first period to earn the victory in net for the Phantoms, making 30 saves on the 32 shots he faced.

With seven seconds left, Cangelosi tallied an empty-netter with the goalee pulled on a breakaway to ice the game.  Ambrosia snagged another point with an assist.

Coach Anthony Noreen talked about keeping his team composed facing a 2-1 deficit after the first period.  “The first period is over is what I told them.  Let’s look forward to the second period and stick to our game plan.  Let’s outhit them, out forecheck, out back check, and beat them to the puck.  Our plan is threefold.  Number one, we strive to be the most conditioned team in the league.  Number two, we talk about keeping the game uptempo and constantly moving the puck forward.  Finally, we refuse to lose. Refuse to lose the puck, refuse to lose battles, and our guys did a much better job tonight with that stuff later in the game.”

These same two teams will hook up again tomorrow night at the Covelli Centre.