Phantoms spook North Stars

Published on October 30, 2005 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


BOARDMAN, Ohio - During the Halloween season, one might expect a team named ‘Phantoms' to thrive. Unfortunately for the Traverse City North Stars, the Youngstown-based club's success came at their expense.

Mahoning Valley opened its home schedule with a pair of victories over the Stars - 7-5 on Saturday and 4-1 in a Sunday matinee - as Traverse City fell to 6-7-2.

"They have a very veteran-laden team," said North Stars head coach/GM Scott Gardiner. "And when we go on the road for the series, we don't have that yet. I expect by Christmas or so we'll have guys who become veterans, but we're still green in that regard."

On Sunday, Marc Menzione amassed a pair of goals for Mahoning Valley, including a contest-sealing empty-netter, and goalie Bryce Merriam made them stand up, snuffing 25 of the 26 Stars shots he faced. Matt Quigley scored a shorthanded tally at 13:30 of the first period, Milan Drevenak made it 2-0 at 6:02 of the second, and Menzione's first goal gave the hosts a 3-0 edge they wouldn't relinquish.

Patrick Nagorsen notched Traverse City's lone score on a power play at 10:15 of the second period on an assist from Travis Paeth before Menzione capped it with :27 to play. Jeremy Kaleniecki made 39 saves as the Phantoms outshot the Stars by a 43-26 spread.

Saturday's game took a similar track, with Mahoning Valley scoring four goals in the first 11:43 of the affair before goals by Jake Erway (14:29 of the first) and Jared Mullen (14:40 off the second period) cut the visitors' deficit in half. A pair of Phantoms goals pushed the advantage to 6-2 but a trio of Traverse City lamplighters - by Anthony Sarno, Mullen and Adam Sponseller -- made things interesting until Drew Satterly's empty net goal salted the game away for the Youngstown-area squad.

"They outshot us, they outplayed us and we didn't look good," Gardiner admitted. "I mean, Ryan (Donovan) is back there with 51 shots coming at him. We need to be more consistent in front of him."

Sarno, Ryan Reid, Matthew Larke, Jonathan Juliano (2), Steven Oleksy, Jarrett Rush, Tony Swarthout, and Paeth all made the scoresheet on Saturday with assists. Donovan collected 45 saves.

Traverse City returns to the friendly confines of Centre ICE arena for a Nov. 4-5 two-game set with North Division rival Cleveland.

We thank you, our media partners, for your continued interest in Traverse City North Stars hockey. If there is anything we can do to help facilitate any aspect of your coverage, please do not hesitate to contact us. You are a valued component of North Stars hockey.

For more information, call Lance-Michael Correia at (231) 632-5047, the Traverse City North Stars office at (231) 941-9200 or visit the team's Web site at: www.traversecitynorthstars.com.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



North American Hockey League Stories from October 30, 2005


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.

OurSports Central