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Youngstown Phantoms

A Pair from Connor and the Game Winner from Sherwood Help the Phantoms to Victory

January 23, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


CEDAR RAPIDS, IA- The Youngstown Phantoms (18-11-5) earned a 5-3 win over the League-leading Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on Friday night. Forward Kyle Connor netted a pair of goals, while forwards Matt Alvaro, Ryan Lomberg and Kiefer Sherwood all tallied lone markers for the Phantoms, who picked up a win over Cedar Rapids for the first time since October of 2012.

Cedar Rapids drew first blood 6:13 into the first, when forward Cal Burke scored to put the RoughRiders up, 1-0.

That lead held up throughout the remainder of the first, however 7:41 into the second, the Phantoms got on the board when forward Josh Nenadal took a shot that bounced off of Cedar Rapids goaltender Ben Blacker right to Alvaro who slammed in the rebound, tying the game, 1-1.

"It was a great play by Nenny who drove wide and shot it off of the goalie's pad, and I was lucky enough to put it in," said Alvaro. "It's been a long time coming, but I feel like I've been creating chances, and even though the puck isn't going in, I'm still able to help out in other areas."

Cedar Rapids regained the lead roughly 10 minutes later, when forward Andrew Oglevie beat Youngstown netminder Chris Birdsall, putting Cedar Rapids ahead, 2-1.

That lead for Cedar Rapids was short lived, as 55 seconds later the Phantoms struck again when Connor took control of the puck in the neutral zone and skated over the Cedar Rapids blueline, where he split the defense and fired a wrister that beat Blacker, tying the game, 2-2, after 40 minutes.

"The puck took a lucky bounce off of the defenseman at the blueline and I saw the second guy coming at me so I decided to make a move and put the puck on net, and it went in," remarked Connor.

The RoughRiders took the lead back, 1:15 into the second, when forward Adam Gaudette deflected a shot past Birdsall, putting Cedar Rapids up, 3-2.

The Phantoms were not deterred, and managed to tie the game up while shorthanded, as Lomberg took control of the puck and skated over the Cedar Rapids blueline on a 2-on-1 rush and fired a wrist shot past Blacker, pulling the Phantoms even with Cedar Rapids, 3-3, 6:58 into the third.

Just under 10 minutes later, the Phantoms took their first lead of the game when forward Max Letunov sent a pass to Sherwood at the top of the slot, where he blasted the eventual game-winner just under the crossbar and in, putting Youngstown up, 4-3, 17:41 into the third.

"Max fed me the puck and it I was just trying to get the puck on net, and I think it went through their defenders legs and luckily it went in, but a lot of credit goes to my linemates who put in a lot of work on that shift," said Sherwood.

The Phantoms defense held firm for the remainder of the game, and with one second left, Connor scored an empty netter for his second goal of the game, sealing the 5-3 win for the Phantoms.

"Obviously Kyle hasn't been scoring like we all would like, but his game has gotten so much better," said Phantoms Head Coach Anthony Noreen. "He's gotten to a point where he's productive without scoring. We knew he was going to start scoring again in due time, and hopefully tonight opens up the flood gates for him.

Birdsall was solid in his first game against his former team, stopping16 of the 19 shots he faced in his return to Cedar Rapids. The Phantoms outshot the RoughRiders, 34-19, on the night, while the power play failed to convert on any of its four opportunities.

"We had the best week of practice we've had all year, bar none. Our attention to detail and energy level was awesome, and our message was to make sure that that carried over into this weekend," said Noreen. "From our standpoint, we never had to get into the guys or motivate them, or do anything other than adjust a couple of X's and O's, and as a coach, that' what you want."

The two teams wrap up their weekend series tomorrow night and 8:05.

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