USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms Ride Away from Stable with First Ever Win, 4-3

Published on February 4, 2012 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Stable, home rink of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, has not been kind to the Youngstown Phantoms in their first three seasons in the United States Hockey League. But on Saturday night, they owned it. The Phantoms (23-13-3, T-third East) got a quick goal in the first period and never trailed as they captured their first ever road win over the RoughRiders (16-14-8, sixth East) by a score of 4-3.

Alex Gacek led the way with a pair of goals and Austin Cangelosi and Sam Anas also found the back of the net. Goaltender Matthew O'Connor turned away 35 of 38 RoughRider shots for his 20th win of the season, tying him with Indiana's Jon Gillies for the USHL lead.

"It seems like every few weeks we have the chance to knock off a couple of firsts," Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. "It makes games fun when you know that there's a challenge on the line and the chance to do something for the first time in the program's history - to make your mark as a team.

"It was a great experience for us."

Cangelosi put the Phantoms up 1-0 on their first power play of the night. JT Stenglein skated the puck into the zone on the left-wing side, then pulled up just inside the blue line and sent a pass all the way across the ice for Mike Ambrosia. The captain drew the RoughRider defender then slipped a centering feed right past him for Cangelosi, who crashed the net and cashed it in for his 19th of the season, coming just 3:20 into the game.

The RoughRiders, however, tied it up a little more than 12 minutes later on a man-advantage of their own, when Dennis Kravchenko expertly navigated through center ice, split the defense and put a wrist shot past O'Connor on the blocker-side. The teams entered the first intermission knotted up at one apiece.

Gacek gave the Phantoms their second lead of the night just 4:22 into the second period on another terrific transition play. Daniel Renouf sent a breakout pass from his own corner, across center ice for Todd Koritzinsky on the far wall. Kortizinsky hit Dylan Margonari in stride and he backhanded a pass through the crease for Gacek, who batted it in.

Anas put the Phantoms up two goals a minute and a half later. The Quinnipiac commit got the puck on an odd-man rush and tried to thread a backdoor pass, but RoughRider goaltender Jake Hildebrand unwittingly got a piece of it with his pad. It bounced right back onto Anas' stick and, although was being tripped up, he was able to drag the puck and lift it up and over with a backhand to make it 3-1.

Then at the 9:20 mark of the period, Gacek stretched the lead to three goals, when he potted a juicy rebound after Margonari intercepted a puck in the neutral zone and threw it on net.

"You could see the hunger in Alex's face all day," Noreen said. "I know he wasn't happy with a turnover last night that led to a goal. He went out with a point to prove. It was probably the best game he played all year. The goals were just a bonus."

The RoughRiders, however, brought it back to a two-goal game minutes later when Thomas Forgione tapped in a cross-crease pass on a short-handed rush. Then Cedar Rapids had a prime opportunity to trim the lead again when both Gacek and Margonari were whistled for penalties at the 16:31 mark, giving the RoughRiders a full two minutes of 5-on-3. But the Phantoms made it difficult for them to even set up their power play unit, and killed it off to carry a 4-2 lead into the third period.

"That [penalty kill] was a turning point in the game," Noreen said. "No doubt about it. It would have been very easy for us to give up one or even two there, but we pressured them ... and Richard Zehanl came up with two huge shot blocks."

The third period was relatively calm, but for a frantic final pair of minutes as the RoughRiders pushed to tie the game and pulled Hildebrand for the extra attacker. O'Connor made saves on a flurry of chances but Ian Brady finally beat him on wrist shot from the slot with just 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation. Cangelosi, however, tied up Stu Wilson off the ensuing face off as the final seconds ticked off the clock, and the Phantoms skated off with the win.

"There was nothing pretty about any of our goals tonight," Noreen said. "They were flat-out, hard-working goals - and it wasn't always our strongest guys.

"It was great to see. They're not always going to be pretty and we don't want them that way. We're a down-and-dirty, blue-collar team and those are the goals we need to get."

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