USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms Notebook: Week No.19

Published on January 23, 2014 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Phantoms continued their seven-game homestand with another Friday/Saturday doubleheader at the Covelli Centre, and then played a special Wednesday matinee for their third game in six days.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

On Friday, the Phantoms hosted Waterloo in an out-of-conference matchup. Waterloo got off to a quick start with a power play goal from Brandon Montour just 2:44 into the first period. Patrick Russell would add another power play goal about midway through the period to put the Black Hawks up by two.

Waterloo continued their quick start by adding a third goal just over a minute into the second period. Peter Krieger was credited with the tally, while Liam Pecararo and Mark Friedman picked up the assists. About five minutes later, Tommy Parran got the Phantoms on the board with a wrist shot from the blue line that found its way to the back of the net. Later, on the power play, Kiefer Sherwood cut the Black Hawks' lead to one with a goal of his own.

At the start of the third, the Black Hawks converted on a major penalty that had carried over from the second stanza, regaining their two-goal lead, as Mark Friedman notched his sixth goal of the season. Youngstown would get to within one, as Parran would score his second of the evening, but the Black Hawks held on for a 4-3 win.

On Saturday, the Phantoms took on the Muskegon Lumberjacks for the third time in three weeks. Over the first half of the game, Muskegon worked their way to a commanding 4-0 lead. In the second period, Trey Bradley finally got the Phantoms on the board with his first career USHL goal, but at 16:17 of the second period, Matt Iacopelli ripped a shot from the left wing boards high and over the glove of goaltender Colin DeAugustine to put the Jacks back up by four.

Both teams exchanged goals in the first ten minutes of the third period, as Luke Stork tallied for Youngstown and Haralds Egle responded for Muskegon. Sherwood would get the Phantoms to within three, and Tommy Parran would add his third goal in two games to make it a two-goal deficit. However, Carson Gatt capitalized on a late power play for the Jacks to seal the match.

The frigid temperatures Wednesday morning affected some schools that were slated to attend the annual School Day Game, but it did not hinder the matchup between the Phantoms and the Indiana Ice.

Youngstown got off to a quick start on the scoreboard, as Maxim Letunov and Sherwood scored goals 24 seconds apart to put Youngstown up 2-0 early. From that point, however, the Ice retaliated with five unanswered goals, including one on the power play in the dying seconds of the first period to take a 5-2 lead to the dressing room after one.

On a spectacular second period individual effort by Tyler Spezia, the Phantoms were able to the cut the Ice lead to three. Spezia charged to the net from the left wing side and was able to wrap the puck around goaltender Jason Pawloski, all while getting upended.

Sherwood would add his second goal of the morning for his first career USHL two-goal game, getting the team within one in the third. However, the Ice responded with two more goals, and the game would end with a 7-4 final in favor of the visitors.

LOOSE PUCKS

- Tommy Parran was named USHL CCM Defenseman of the Week after scoring three goals in two games over the weekend. He registered his first career goal, his first career two-goal game, and his first career shorthanded goal over the span.

- Kiefer Sherwood recorded his first career two-goal game against Indiana on Wednesday. Sherwood now has four goals over his last three games, and 15 points over his last 18 games.

- Maxim Letunov snapped a five-game pointless streak with his one goal, one assist effort on Wednesday. The two-point effort was Letunov's ninth multi-point contest of the season.

- Tyler Spezia has registered points in four of his last five games (five points over the span).

- Luke Stork notched his third multi-point game of the season with a one goal, one assist performance on Saturday vs. Muskegon.

- Trey Bradley was added to the active 23-man roster as a full-time player. In exchange, the Phantoms sent forward Alex Rauter to Wenatchee (NAHL). Bradley scored his first career USHL goal against Muskegon exactly one week after his three-assist breakout, and now has five points in eight games with Youngstown this season.

- The Phantoms acquired USHL rights to forward James Winkler from Muskegon. Winkler is currently playing for the Portland Jr. Pirates in the United States Premier Hockey League. He was recently ranked 110th among North American-based skaters on the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings ahead of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

- Defenseman Steven Ruggiero committed to play college hockey at Penn State University. He is the 15th current player on the Youngstown active roster to hold a college commitment.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Phantoms will host Team USA on Friday night in the final game of their seven-game homestand. It is the last time Team USA will visit Covelli Centre before the beginning of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Following the contest, the Phantoms will take to the road to face the Chicago Steel in Bensenville, Illinois on Saturday night.

THEY SAID IT

"We wanted more, and we wanted to have an energy shift. We're not going to back down from challenges. Some teams, if they're up a few goals, they back down. We will never do that as long as I'm here."

- Anthony Noreen on his team's play after going ahead 2-0 vs. Indiana.

PHANTOMS LEADERS

Points: Kyle Connor (16-26-42, T-3rd in USHL)

Goals: JJ Piccinich (19, 5th in USHL)

Assists: Connor (26, T-4th in USHL)

Power Play Goals: Piccinich (10, leads USHL)

Shorthanded Goals: Tyler Spezia (2, T-2nd in USHL)

Plus/Minus: Zach Evancho, Steven Ruggiero (E)

Penalty Minutes: Conor Lemirande (97, 6th in USHL)

Points by a Defenseman: Bo Pellah (2 as a Phantom, 18 overall)

Wins: Colin DeAugustine (5)

Goals Against Average: Sean Romeo (3.61)

Save Percentage: Romeo (.889)

Shutouts: Romeo, DeAugustine (1 each)

ALUMNI WATCH

- Bemidji State's Danny Mattson ranks fifth in scoring on the Beavers.

- Bentley's Brett Gensler leads the Falcons in scoring, and is carrying an active 12-game point streak that began on November 29. He had a four-point weekend (one goal, three assists) vs. Canisius.

- Austin Cangelosi ranks fifth on Boston College in scoring. He tallied a goal against Merrimack on January 21, breaking a five-game scoreless streak.

- Boston College's Quinn Smith had a goal vs. Boston University on January 17, and an assist vs. Merrimack on January 21.

- Denver's Ty Loney added a goal and an assist to his totals vs. Minnesota-Duluth last weekend.

- Ferris State's Ryan Lowney notched an assist vs. Minnesota State on January 18.

- Maine's Cam Brown ranks fifth on the Black Bears in scoring. His teammate, Stu Higgins, had a goal vs. Boston College on January 18, and Dan Renouf added an assist in that contest.

- Minnesota State's Dylan Margonari had a three-point weekend against Ferris State (one goal, two assists).

- Niagara's Pat Conte scored against Holy Cross on January 18.

- Northern Michigan's Luke Eibler had two assists against Alaska on January 17.

- Northeastern's Ryan Belonger and Mike Gunn each had an assist over the weekend.

- Princeton's Jon Liau ranks third on the Tigers in scoring, and Mike Ambrosia ranks fifth.

- Penn State's Taylor Holstrom ranks fifth on the Nittany Lions in scoring. He had a goal vs. Michigan State on January 18.

- Quinnipiac's Sam Anas leads the Bobcats in scoring, as well as all NCAA freshman. He is tied for seventh in the nation in that regard. He had two goals against Merrimack on January 18.

- RPI's Chris Bradley leads all team defensemen in scoring.

EVENTS AND PROMOTIONS

The Phantoms are hosting Second Harvest Food Bank Night on Friday evening. All fans who bring three non-perishable food items to donate to the Food Bank can receive a $3 Purple Level ticket to the game against Team USA.

Single game tickets are on sale now for all Phantoms' home games at the Covelli Centre. Phantoms 10-Game Flex Plans are also available starting at the low price of just $89. Call 330.747.PUCK (7825) for more information or to reserve seats today. For all the latest news, visit www.YoungstownPhantoms.com, follow the Phantoms on Twitter (@YtownPhantoms) and 'like' them on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/YoungstownPhantoms).

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United States Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2014


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