USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms Wrap up Road Slate with 5-2 Win over Steel

Published on April 10, 2013 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


BENSENVILLE, Ill. - In the postseason, teams need unsung players to rise to the occasion. Teams with scoring depth - those are teams that win championships.

Though the regular season has not yet closed, the Youngstown Phantoms got one of those unexpected performances from Mac MacSorley Wednesday morning against the Chicago Steel. The first-year forward scored his second goal of the season to put the Phantoms ahead for good as they overcame a first-period deficit to down the Steel 5-2.

Sam Anas added a pair of goals - the game's first and final - to move in to a tie for the United States Hockey League lead with 37, while the Phantoms (37-25-0, 74 points) pulled even with the Green Bay Gamblers for second place in the Eastern Conference standings, although the Gamblers own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Luke Stork and Jimmy Mazza also found the back of the net for Youngstown, while goaltender Sean Romeo turned away 27 shots, including 18-of-18 over the final two periods, to pick up his 31st win of the season.

"We talk about everybody chipping in and this morning was another example," head coach Anthony Noreen said. "Everyone contributed and Mac, a guy who hasn't seen a lot of ice time as of late, gets his number called and gets the game-winner, which is great."

The Steel (27-31-4, 58 points) took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission but the Phantoms knotted the game up just before the seven-minute mark of the second period. Josh Nenadal skated the puck around the horn and left it in the left corner for Alexander Dahl, who he threaded it to Stork parked at the top of the circles. Stork stepped right into it and fired a one-timer past Chicago goaltender Chris Nell's outstretched glove for his 12th of the season.

MacSorley put Youngstown in front with 6:20 remaining in the period. First-year defenseman Kyle Mackey intercepted a Chicago clearing attempt at the left point and tapped a pass to MacSorley at the right circle. The 16-year-old quickly loaded up and fired a rocket wrist shot inside the far post for his first goal since Oct. 12.

"He's gone out there in practice and played the right way and done everything we've asked of all of our guys," Noreen said. "For him to go out and score a goal was a huge boost to our team, and our guys really fed off it. That was excited as I've seen our guys for somebody else to score in a long time. He's earned it."

Mazza gave the Phantoms a two-goal cushion three minutes into the third period when the blue liner lofted a wrist shot from the point that deflected off a Steel defenseman and squirted past Nell. Even with the lead, Youngstown continued to press and Anas put them up 5-2 with 5:36 remaining. Stork led a rush down the right-wing side then dished it off to Dan Renouf, who shoveled it Anas on the backdoor and he tapped it in for his 37th of the season.

"Sam is a guy who's got a knack for scoring goals," Noreen said. "He did it some last year, but this year he's really taken it to another level. You can see when his scoring picked up we turned our season around. There's no doubt about the correlation between those two."

The Phantoms were awarded a power play three minutes into the opening period and got right to work. Cam Brown carried the puck into the zone with speed and dropped it for Ryan Lowney who swept it across the blue line for Anas. He teed up a slap shot and fired it through the screen and Nell to put the Youngstown in front 1-0 just 29 seconds into the man-advantage.

Chicago responded with two straight goals from Christopher Dodero in the final eight minutes of the period. His first came at the 7:50 mark off a give-and-go with Nolan Valleau on the odd-man rush. Then with just 1:17 remaining in the period, he floated to the backdoor undetected and Christian Dvorak found him for his third of the season.

With the win, the Phantoms improved to a perfect 7-0-0 vs. Chicago this season. They will meet again to close out the regular season with a pair of games this weekend at the Covelli Centre.

Phantoms by the Numbers

Shots - 20

Saves - 27

Power Play - 1-for-4

Penalty Kill - 4-for-4

Goals - Anas (2), MacSorley, Mazza, Stork

Assists - Brown, Dahl, Lowney, Mackey, Nenadal, Renouf, Stork

Next on the Slate

The Phantoms host the Steel Friday and Saturday at the Covelli Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:15 p.m. EST both nights.

Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are on sale now starting at the low price of just $8 a game. Benefits include invitations to exclusive season ticket holder events, discounts at the Phantoms Team Shop and much more. Renew or purchase 2013-14 season tickets before April 13 and receive free tickets to all of the Phantoms' 2013 USHL Clark Cup home playoff games. Call 330.747.PUCK (7825) for more information or to reserve seats today. For all the latest news, visit www.YoungstownPhantoms.com, follow the Phantoms on Twitter (@YtownPhantoms) and 'like' them on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/YoungstownPhantoms).

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 10, 2013


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