USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Despite 'Desperate' Third Period, Phantoms Fall to Team USA 6-4

Published on January 14, 2012 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Youngstown Phantoms let their frustration get the best of them late in the second period Saturday night, and Team USA made that the difference. After opening the scoring in the first period, the Phantoms (18-11-2, fourth East) surrendered five unanswered goals to enter the third trailing 5-1 and despite a frantic final 20 minutes, they fell 6-4 to Team USA (14-11-3, T-fifth East).

Pat Conte, Ryan Belonger, JT Stenglein and Austin Cangelosi scored for the Phantoms, who dropped their second game in a row at the Covelli Centre, and third straight overall. Matthew O'Connor made 20 saves on 25 shots in the loss.

"We need to be desperate from when the puck drops," Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. "I think you saw in the third period what a desperate Youngstown Phantoms team looks like. The bottom line is we're not going to accept anything less than that."

Conte gave the Phantoms the lead before the game was five minutes old. The Niagara University commit, who had another excellent chance minutes earlier, got the puck at the left circle and put a shot low on Hunter Miska. Miska got a leg pad on it, but it bounced back to Conte, who beat him on the second chance.

"Pat repeatedly works as hard as anybody on the ice," Noreen said. "He deserves everything good that happens to him because no matter what, you get the same Pat Conte every night."

Will Butcher knotted things up for team USA a little less than six minutes later and just eight seconds into a 5-on-3 power play. His shot from the point beat a screened O'Connor. Mike McCarron gave USA the lead 2-1 lead with 1:39 left in the period when O'Connor was unable to get a whistle fast enough and had the puck poked out of his glove in a melee in front of the net. The Phantoms, who were outshooting Team USA for much of the first, entered the intermission trail 13-4 in shots and 2-1 on the scoreboard.

"We jumped out to that [shot] lead in the first because we had a power play or two early," Noreen said. "They ended up having three later in the first and it's just tough to get your offense going when you're in the box."

John Hayden made it 3-1 at the 15:59 mark in the second period, beating O'Connor on another power play with a shot that rang around the inside of the net before being spit right back out. Then with less than five minutes left in the period, Tyler Kelleher scored his second of the weekend with a wrist shot.

Then an already chippy game got a lot worse.

With 4:24 left in the period, there was a line brawl along the far-side boards. It started after an altercation between Alex Gacek and Clint Lewis after the whistle and ended with a trio of ejections - Jordan Young and Dylan Margonari for the Phantoms, Lewis for USA - a combined 71 minutes in penalties a five-minute power play for Team USA.

After Eric Sweetman was sent to the box for roughing with 1:51 remaining, Team USA got its second 5-on-3 of the game and Anthony Lewis capitalized 50 seconds later to make it 5-1 heading into the third.

"It's frustrating when you feel like the guy's taking liberty on one of you teammates," Noreen said. "That's what we talked about between the second and the third. We said 'Let's take a breath here. Let's not get frustrated or out of control. Let's stay classy, and let's play our game.

"In the third period, we did that."

Belonger jolted the Phantoms back to life just 2:43 into the third when he pounced on a puck in the crease after Todd Koritzinsky's shot was initially saved by Miska. A little less than 10 minutes later, and on Youngstown's eighth power play of the night, Stenglein slapped another puck past Miska on the backdoor to make it a two-goal game.

After a supreme individual effort from Sam Anas earned the Phantoms a power play with 2:25 left in the period, Noreen pulled O'Connor for a 6-on-4 advantage and Cangelosi was able to find space and beat Miska with a wrist shot that was tucked just inside the far post.

But in the final minute, and O'Connor again on the bench in favor of the extra attacker, Team USA was able to get a puck past a sprawling Chris Bradley in the neutral zone, and JT Compher definitively blasted it into the opening net from just outside the crease.

"It was good for our team to be able to stick to our game plan [in the third]," Noreen said. "But there are no moral victories. We're not going to accept the fact that we had a chance at the end. That's not good enough.

"What's expected is for us to go out and play that way from the very beginning and win the hockey game."

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