Phantoms Finish With Series Split in Alpena
Published on October 18, 2008 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
ALPENA, MI - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms gave up two goals in the last minute of the second period and could not recover, losing Saturday night to the Alpena IceDiggers by a final score of 4-3.
After Doug Clifford's third goal of the weekend gave the Phantoms a 3-2 lead with 48 seconds left in the second, Alpena got goals from Josh Nicol and Sam Cheraso with 24 and 12 seconds left, respectively, to take the lead.
The Phantoms created multiple scoring chances in the third period but could never get one past Nick Graves, who picked up his first win of the season for the IceDiggers. The Phantoms' best chance came with two minutes left when Alex Lippincott rang a wrist shot off the post.
The loss, marking the Phantoms' first regulation defeat of the season, drops MahoningValley to 6-1-1 (13 pts). The Phantoms were previously the only team in the NAHL without a loss in regulation.
Brandon Saad and Stefan Salituro also scored for the Phantoms, whose all-time record against Alpena slipped to 35-10-0. Cullen Lundholm added a pair of assists to capture the team lead in points with nine (1-8-9).
Garrett Bartus finished with 28 saves and fell to 2-1-1 on the year. Graves made 27 saves for the IceDiggers.
The game did not feature many penalties, with the teams only combining for seven power play opportunities on the night. The Phantoms finished 1 for 3 on the power play while killing off 3 of 4 Alpena opportunities.
The Phantoms return to the Valley on Friday night as they host Team U.S.A. at the Ice Zone in Boardman for a two-game set. Puck drop for both games will be at 7:15 P.M.
Season tickets and individual game tickets are now on sale, call (330) 965-7500 or visit MVPPhantoms.com for more information.
The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company - Phantom Fireworks, located in Youngstown, Ohio.
North American Hockey League Stories from October 18, 2008
- Tough loss for the Bobcats - Bismarck Bobcats
- U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Ties Cornell, 3-3 - U.S. National Team
- U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Tops Marquette in Shootout, 3-2 - U.S. National Team
- Stars crush Motor City for 7th straight win - Traverse City North Stars
- Phantoms Finish With Series Split in Alpena - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Bandits Beat Jr. Blues in Home Opener - Springfield Jr. Blues
- U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Tops Oswego State, 4-3, in OT - U.S. National Team
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.
