USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Lumberjacks Halt Phantoms' Home Winning Streak

Published on November 11, 2011 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Youngstown Phantoms suffered their first home loss of the season Friday night, falling 2-1 to the Muskegon Lumberjacks. The Phantoms (7-4-0) entered the night a perfect 4-0 at the Covelli Centre, but were done in by a pair of late penalties - forced to play short-handed in the waning minutes of the game.

Goaltender Matthew O'Connor turned away 33 of 35 shots from Muskegon (5-6-0), which has won four of its last five games. Right wing Ryan Belonger scored the lone goal for the Phantoms, his fifth of the season, while the Youngstown power play went scoreless in five attempts.

"The bottom line with the power play - and this is my philosophy as a coach - is 'your job is to keep the momentum on our bench. Your job is to outwork the penalty kill. Goals are a bonus,'" Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. "I didn't think we did that tonight... If you're going to win games in this league - at this high of a level and beyond - you've got to be better at special teams."

The game was scoreless until the 16:43 mark in the second period, when Ryan Lomberg stuffed a rebound past O'Connor. The Lumberjacks had a plethora of chances to add to that lead in the second as they enjoyed four power plays, but the Phantoms' short-handed unit was able to kill off each one and eight total on the evening.

"Our penalty kill did a great job tonight," Noreen said. "But we took way too many penalties."

The Phantoms dominated play for a long stretch in the third and Belonger knotted it up with 7:57 remaining. Defenseman Jordan Young's point shot kicked into the right-side corner and Belonger launched the puck back on net, beating Muskegon goaltender John Keeney from an extremely difficult angle.

Exactly one minute later though, Joseph Cox blocked a shot just inside his own blue line, carried the puck up the left-side boards and beat O'Connor to retake the lead for Muskegon.

"A trend in hockey is when you're all over a team, the hardest shot to stop is the first one when they come back down - when you haven't seen one in a while," Noreen said. "Matt hadn't seen a shot in I think six or seven minutes and that one just caught him off guard."

The Phantoms took a pair of penalties within the final three minutes of the period, which left them unable to pull O'Connor for the extra skater to try to tie the game back up. When they returned to even-strength with less than 30 seconds remaining, they were unable to mount a final offensive push.

Phantoms by the Numbers

33 - Saves

26 - Shots

100 % - Penalty Kill (8-for-8)

1G-0A-1PT - Belonger

0G-1A-1PT - Ambrosia, Young

Staying Hot

With a goal tonight, his fifth of the season, Ryan Belonger has now scored in two straight games and three of his last five.

Next on the Slate

The Phantoms face off the Dubuque Fighting Saints, the defending Clark Cup champions, tomorrow night and on Sunday. The puck drops tomorrow at 7:15 p.m. EST at the Covelli Centre.

Event and Promotions

Saturday, Nov. 12: Twilight Night: Saturday against Dubuque is Twilight Night at the Covelli Centre and you don't have to be on Team Edward or Team Jacob to have a scary good time! All fans will also have the chance to win one of three pairs of tickets to the midnight premiere of the new Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1.

Sunday, Nov. 13 (6 p.m.): Family Four-Pack Night: On Sunday against Dubuque, a family of four can get tickets for $20. On top of that, it is "Double Dollar Deal Day" and fans can get a 16 oz. beer, 16 oz. soda, hotdog or popcorn for just $2! Now that's a bargain!

Single game tickets for the 2011-12 season are on sale now. Season ticket and flex plans start at the low price of just $90. Call the Phantoms office today at 330.747.7825 for more information or to make a reservation today! For a complete Phantoms schedule, visit www.youngstownphantoms.com .

Check out the Youngstown Phantoms Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from November 11, 2011


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