Phantoms Feast on U17s in 6-1 Win
November 26, 2022 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release
YOUNGSTOWN, OH - After putting up just a single goal in each of their last two games, the Youngstown Phantoms (6-6-3-1, 16 points) exploded for six, including the first two USHL goals for Kuzma Voronin, as they down Team USA (U17) 6-1 Friday night at the Covelli Centre. The win snapped the Phantoms' four-game winless streak (0-1-2-1).
"It's great any time you get two points at home," said Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward. "I think there's somethings we probably need to clean up a little bit away from the puck, just some details, but I thought our guys played well. Some of our young players came through. Overall, it's just great to get two points against a very, very good team at home."
Youngstown scored the first four goals of the game and had two in every period. The Phantoms grabbed the early 1-0 lead when Kenta Isogai got loose down the middle after running a give-and-go with Jake Rozzi at 3:40 of the first. Isogai now has four goals on the season and tallies in back-to-back games for the third time in his career. The Phantoms doubled their lead at 15:31 on Voronin's first of the night and first of his USHL career, a snapper from the right dot that found its way past Nick Kempf (20 saves).
It only took 25 seconds into the middle frame for Youngstown to add on to their lead, using a redirect by Brandon Svoboda to extend the margin to 3-0. The Phantoms added on after the midway point of the period when Matthew Perkins put home the rebound of Andrew Centrella's shot from the left point at 11:44. Centrella had four assists on the night, a career high, and the most put up by any Phantom since January 27, 2018 when Matt Berry did the same against Dubuque.
Team USA broke up Jacob Fowler's shutout bid at 3:40 when the referee awarded a goal to Brendan McMorrow, although the puck did not appear to enter the net in a legal fashion. Fowler stopped 23/24 on the night in earning his fourth win on the season.
Youngstown answered back with a pair of goals 70 seconds apart just past the halfway point of the period to put an exclamation point on the night and end any hopes of a USA comeback. Voronin potted his second of the night at 10:50, finishing off a 2-on-1 break with Andrew Strathmann. "I thought Kuzma was great. I'll tell you what, he has a lot of raw ability," said Ward. "His skating is elite; his vision is really good. I thought it was a great coming out party for Kuzma, we're really excited about him. To see him score those two goals, and the guys loved it, I thought it was great for Kuzma." Shane Lachance capped off the night with a redirect goal off a great pass by Tomas Machu right to Lachance's blade as Lachance was parked right at the edge of the blue paint.
The Phantoms wrap up their brief two-game homestand tomorrow against the U17s again before heading to Rochester, New York next week for a pair of games against the Green Bay Gamblers as part of the USHL American Cup powered by Wegman's at Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex.
By the Numbers
Shots - 26
Saves - 23
Power Play - 0/4
Penalty Kill - 0/0
Goals - Isogai, Lachance, Perkins, Svoboda, Voronin (2)
Assists - Centrella (4), de Haro (2), Laubach, Machu (2), Rozzi, Strathmann, Willson
Box Score - https://ushl.com/ht/#/game-summary/10385
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