Phantoms Fall 5-1 to Bandits; St. Louis Sweeps Weekend
Published on February 24, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
ST. PETERS, Mo. (Sunday, February 24, 2008) - In a similar fashion as Saturday's game, the St. Louis Bandits took the momentum and ran with it, scoring the final three goals of the contest en route to a 5-1 triumph over the Mahoning Valley Phantoms on Sunday night at the St. Peters RecPlex.
Ben Warda had a pair of goals, while Wes Love, Mike Leone, Mike Merrifield and Kyle O'Kane each had two point nights to help lead the Bandits (39-8-2, 80 points) to their sixth win in the eight games between the two squads. Mike Johnson had 19 saves between the pipes.
Although it appeared that the Phantoms were controlling the momentum throughout the majority of the opening period, two quick St. Louis strikes turned the tables in a hurry.
Grant Gorczyca opened the scoring at 12:42, redirecting his 10th of the season past Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett to stake St. Louis to a 1-0 lead.
Just after the ensuing face-off, and a mere 15 seconds later, Ben Warda buried a breakaway over Tibbett's glove to put the Bandits up 2-0.
Although Nick Kenney's powerplay goal 2:55 into the second temporarily cut the Bandits lead in half, St. Louis responded with three more in the frame.
Kyle O'Kane put home his 36th of the season less than two minutes later. Ben Warda chalked up his second of the night midway through the period, and Ben Miller rounded out the scoring shortly before the second intermission.
Tibbett made 25 saves while dropping his eighth game of the season. The Phantoms are now 3-6-1 in their last 10 games.
Despite being swept, the Phantoms (27-16-4, 58 points) retained second place in the NAHL North Division, as third place Alpena suffered another setback on Sunday against the U.S. National Team.
Next up, the Phantoms host the Ice Diggers on Friday and Saturday night. Game time at the Ice Zone in Boardman is slated for 7:15 p.m. both nights. The Phantoms will auction off special edition, Relay for Life Phantoms jerseys after Saturday's game.
Catch all Phantoms hockey action live on the web at www.mvpphantoms.com. The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company - Phantom Fireworks, located in Youngstown, Ohio.
North American Hockey League Stories from February 24, 2008
- Phantoms Fall 5-1 to Bandits; St. Louis Sweeps Weekend - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- U.S. National Under-17 Team Blanks Alpena, 2-0 - U.S. National Team
- Jr. Blues take two of three from first Place North Iowa - Springfield Jr. Blues
- Jets Powerless in Owatonna, 3-2 - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
