Phantoms sweep Marquette
April 9, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
MARQUETTE, Mich. - Mike Fillinger scored twice and added an assist and Ryan Zapolski made 32 saves to lead the Mahoning Valley Phantoms to a 6-2 win over the Marquette Rangers and a three-game sweep of their North American Hockey League North Division semifinal series.
The series win is the first for the Phantoms in their four-year history.
In the first period, both teams got acclimated to playing on a wider Olympic ice sheet and skated at a more cautious pace.
Late in the period, the Phantoms took the lead off a line change. Brent Dexter fed the puck to Chad Boeckman, fresh off the bench, in the neutral zone.
Boeckman skated down the right wing, got around a Rangers defenseman and fired a wrist shot from the circle that beat goaltender Beau Christian high on the far glove side. Boeckman's first goal of the series came at the 15:33 mark.
Less than two minutes later, the Phantoms struck again, this time on the power play.
Eric Ringel floated a cross-ice pass from the right point to Miles Winter in the left circle. Winter's one-timer beat Christian for a 2-0 Phantoms lead with 2:31 left in the period.
Marquette mounted a second period comeback; a period that the Phantoms had outscored the Rangers 6-0 in the first two games.
On a Rangers' power play, Mike Macari's shot from the left circle was blocked by Zapolski and deflected to the opposite circle.
Christopher Smith gathered the loose puck and fired a quick rebound past Zapolski's outstretched glove at the 4:32 mark.
Nick Kosinski tied the game after Macari's shot in between the circles rattled between Trent Bonnett's skated and towards the net. Kosinski scored at the top of the crease, stuffing the rebound between Zapolski's legs at 9:24 of the period for a 2-2 tie.
The Phantoms used some muscle and a little help from the home team to retake the lead.
Fillinger threw a shot from the left circle that was blocked by Christian. The rebound grabbed the stick of Rangers forward Jake Saville at the top of the crease.
Saville was bumped by Drew Satterley and the puck bounced off Saville's stick into the open net. Fillinger was credited with the goal a 3-2 Phantoms lead with 4:21 left in the period.
The Phantoms were forced to kill an early third period penalty before taking charge on another power play of their own.
Dustin Cloutier flipped a bouncing pass to Fillinger from the left goal line. Fillinger backhanded the live puck over Christian's right leg for his third goal in two games and a 4-2 lead at 3:42.
Shortly after another power play expired, Chris Fairbanks threw a shot from the left point through traffic into the upper left corner of the net and the Phantoms took charge at 5-2 at the 7:59 mark.
Johnny Meo completed the scoring, taking a goal line feed from Fillinger and firing a wrist shot from the right circle for his second goal of the playoffs with 5:06 left.
For the game, the Phantoms outshot the Rangers 36-34. On the power play, the Phantoms were 2 for 6 while Marquette finished 1 for 4.
The Phantoms now await the winner of the other North Division semifinal between the third-seeded U.S. National Team and the second-seeded Alpena Ice Diggers.
Team USA leads the series 2-0 after capturing a pair of one-goal wins last weekend in Alpena. Game three of their series is this Thursday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Phantoms will announce their division final playoff dates following the conclusion of the Alpena-Team USA series.
The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company- Phantom Fireworks, which is headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 9, 2007
- Four teams take 2-0 leads - NAHL
- Phantoms sweep Marquette - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Phantoms' Fillinger commits to Ferris State - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Jets One Win From Advancing - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
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