USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms 'Grind Out' 4-1 Win Over Steel

Published on November 18, 2011 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


BENSENVILLE, Ill. - The sign of a good team is being able to win when you are not at your best. The Youngstown Phantoms were not Friday night, but they still came away with a comfortable 4-1 victory over the Chicago Steel at the Edge Ice Arena.

The Phantoms (9-5-0) got goals from Mike Ambrosia, Sam Anas, JT Stenglein and Austin Cangelosi (empty net), while Matthew O'Connor was dominant in net, turning away 44 of 45 to record his seventh win of the season.

"Matt won us the game tonight," Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. "I don't think he saw a lot of grade 'A' chances, but the ones he did, he turned away. There's a reason he's the backbone of our team and I think everyone saw it tonight."

Cangelosi, who had missed the previous five games while playing with Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge, looked like he had not missed a beat. The speedy center was all over the ice and with 10:58 left in the first he found himself in a foot race with Steel (5-10-0) defenseman Kyle Buffardi. Buffardi lost his edge and fell around Cangelosi's feet at the right circle, but the Boston College commit kept his balance and flung the puck toward net, and Ambrosia was able to knock in the rebound past goaltender Mathias Dahlstrom.

"Austin's speed and his work ethic clears space for Ryan Belonger and Mike Ambrosia," Noreen said. "There's no doubt about it."

Theo DiPauli tied it up for the Steel less than three minutes into the second when he redirected a centering attempt from Ali Thomas. But the red-hot Sam Anas retook the lead for the Phantoms with less than five minutes left in the period. The Potomac, Md. native left the puck for defenseman Dan Renouf at the point and he carried it in below the goal line and backhanded it to the slot. The puck bounced through traffic and found Anas' stick on the back door and he put it into the open net to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games.

"My confidence is pretty high right now, but I'm trying not to focus on that," Anas said. "I just keep getting pucks to the net and they've been going in lately."

Stenglein stretched the Phantoms' lead to two - and his goal-scoring streak to three games - at the 14:43 mark in the third. With the Phantoms on the man-advantage, Anas fed him in the high slot and he sent a shot through traffic and past Dahlstrom.

"I think a lot of people pigeon-holed JT as just a power forward who bangs bodies," Noreen said. "But he was brought here to be a power forward that scores goals and we're glad to see he's doing that."

With less than two minutes left in the third, Jordan Young was boxed for cross-checking, putting the Phantoms short-handed for the remainder of the game. The Steel pulled their netminder for the 6-on-4 advantage, but Cangelosi made them pay. He picked the puck off a Steel defenseman's stick at the point and sent it in the gaping net for his ninth goal of the season and league-leading fourth short-handed.

"To be a good team in this league, you have to find ways to win," Stenglein said. "To get where we want to play, you've got to be able to grind it out. We weren't playing up to 100 percent tonight, but that's what we did."

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United States Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2011


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