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USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms Notebook: Week No. 29

April 3, 2014 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Phantoms hosted Cedar Rapids at home for two before heading to Chicago to play their final road game of 2013-14.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Youngstown began their penultimate weekend of the season with Friday night's contest against the RoughRiders. At 5:35 of the first period, Kyle Connor showed great speed and creativity by beating goaltender Danny Tirone on a breakaway, putting the Phantoms up 1-0 early in the game. The RoughRiders responded right out of the gate in the second period, as Jason Kalinowski tied it.

The intensity of the game started to pick up thereafter, as Josh Nenadal was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing. The Phantoms were able to kill off the entire power play, but shortly after returning to full strength, the RoughRiders cashed in to take a 2-1 lead on a four-on-four. Andrew Poturalski was credited with the goal, while Frederik Tiffels and Nathan Widman earned assists.

Less than two minutes later, on a power play of their own, the Phantoms scored the equalizer to make it a 2-2 game. Connor struck again, as he took advantage of open space in the high slot, and ripped a shot off the crossbar and into the net.

Cedar Rapids was back on the man advantage shortly after, and after picking up an assist on the previous goal, it was Tiffels' turn to light the lamp, giving the RoughRiders a 3-2 lead.

With time dwindling in the second period, the Phantoms refused to go away. Matt Miller took a shot from the blue line that led to a rebound on the blade of Trey Bradley's stick. He was able to backhand it home to even things up once again. JJ Piccinich was also credited with an assist on Bradley's goal.

Heading into the third period, it wasn't until the 5:37 mark that Cedar Rapids scored another goal to break the tie. Scott Moldenhauer's tally would go on to be the game winner, as the RoughRiders took this one by a score of 4-3.

Saturday night was Small Business Night at the Covelli Centre, and the Phantoms played in front of a crowd of over 3,000 people.

Cedar Rapids scored the game's first goal, as Frederik Tiffels beat Colin DeAugustine at the 7:13 mark of the first period. The next goal didn't come until about the midway point of the second period, when Connor one-timed a shot passed Tirone after Piccinich set him up.

It was not until about six minutes into the third period that the tie would be broken. Judd Peterson was able to beat DeAugustine to re-gain the lead for the Roughriders.

Shortly after, several penalties were handed out after chaos ensued in front of the Cedar Rapids net. The end result saw Cedar Rapids go to the man advantage for five minutes, where Tiffels and Andrew Gaus scored power play goals less than a minute apart to put the visitors up by a 4-1 score. This would go on to be the final, despite the Phantoms outshooting the Roughriders by a count of 29-23.

Youngstown then played a midweek game last night in Chicago, their final road game of 2013-14. The Phantom power play opened the scoring in the first period through Kiefer Sherwood, but John Ernsting leveled the game in the second period. Alfred Larsson's man advantage tally put Youngstown back in front by a 2-1 count after two.

In the third, a crafty shorthanded goal by Danny Fetzer tied the game, and John Schilling's power play goal gave Chicago the lead for good. Fetzer added two empty net goals to complete his unorthodox hat trick, and Chicago won by a 5-2 final.

LOOSE PUCKS

- Alfred Larsson's two-point effort on Wednesday night was his second such performance of the season. Larsson now has ten points over his last ten games.

- Kyle Connor scored at least one point in each of the three games, extending his active point streak to six games, with ten points over the span. His 72 season points now stand alone for second place in the USHL.

- Connor scored his 30th goal of the season on Saturday night, joining Sam Anas and JT Stenglein as the only other players in team history to reach that milestone.

- JJ Piccinich had a five-game point streak snapped on Wednesday night. Prior to that, he had recorded six points over his last five games (all assists).

- The announced attendance on Saturday night was 3,261, making for the largest crowd in franchise history for any non-School Day Game.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Phantoms will close out their season with a final weekend at the Covelli Centre. Dubuque will be the opponent on Friday night, and Sioux City will play Youngstown on Saturday. Both games will start at 7:05 pm.

THEY SAID IT

"You want to go out the right way, you want to go out playing the right way, and you want to go out victorious. I think this team deserves that. The only thing we have to do is put the work in to make sure that we get it."

- Anthony Noreen on how he will prepare prior to the last weekend of the season.

PHANTOMS LEADERS

Points: Kyle Connor (30-42-72, 2nd in USHL)

Goals: Kyle Connor (30, 4th in USHL)

Assists: Connor (42, 4th in USHL)

Power Play Goals: Piccinich (13, leads USHL)

Shorthanded Goals: Tyler Spezia (2, T-7th in USHL)

Plus/Minus: Zach Evancho (E)

Penalty Minutes: Josh Nenadal (141, 5th in USHL)

Points by a Defenseman: Bo Pellah (22, 6 as a Phantom)

Wins: Colin DeAugustine (8)

Goals Against Average: DeAugustine (3.39)

Save Percentage: DeAugustine (.889)

Shutouts: DeAugustine, Romeo (1 each)

ALUMNI WATCH

- Syracuse's Andrej Sustr notched two assists last week, with one coming against Adirondack, and the other against Binghamton.

- In the NCAA Tournament, the Phantoms had three alumni advance to the Frozen Four: Boston College's Quinn Smith and Austin Cangelosi, and Minnesota's Tom Serratore. Cangelosi notched an assist against UMass-Lowell in the regional final.

- Ty Loney had an assist in a 6-2 loss to Boston College in the Tournament. He finished second on the team in scoring, and established a career high in goals with 11.

- Quinnipiac's Sam Anas finished the season first on his team in scoring, and he remains the highest scoring freshman in the country.

- Wisconsin's Jefferson Dahl saw his career end with a 5-2 loss to North Dakota. He finishes his tenure as a Badger with 47 points in 150 games.

- Boston College will play Union on April 10 at 5:00 pm, with Minnesota playing North Dakota at 8:30 pm on the same day.

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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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.

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