USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms Take USHL Lead with Win over Sioux City

March 14, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, OH- The Youngstown Phantoms (33-13-5) picked up a 5-1 win over the Sioux City Musketeers on Saturday night. Forwards Matt Alvaro and Kyle Connor each had a pair of goals, while forward Tyler Sheehy scored his first goal as a member of the Phantoms. It was a physical affair as the two sides combined for 207 penalty minutes on the night. With the win, the Phantoms now sit in first place overall in the USHL.

The Phantoms lit the lamp early, as just 3:50 in while shorthanded, forward Josh Nenadal took a shot from the right wing circle that hit some bodies out front and eventually came to Alvaro who popped it in past Sioux City goaltender Collin Olson, putting the Phantoms up, 1-0.

That lead held up throughout the remainder of the first, and in the second, the Phantoms' special teams struck again while on the power play, when forward Kiefer Sherwood sent a pass to Connor coming over the blue line, and he split the Musketeer defense and tucked it past Olson, pushing the Phantoms' lead to 2-0, 4:43 into the frame.

The power play expanded the Phantoms' lead to 3-0 about seven minutes later, when forward Josh Melnick took a shot from the center blueline that was deflected in by Alvaro for his second of the game, 10:21 into the second period.

"It definitely felt great to get those goals tonight, but all the credit goes to my teammates on setting me up," said Alvaro. "On the first one, Nenny made a great play off the goalie's far pad and I was able to put it in, and on the second, Melnick made a great feed to me and I was able to bury. It was great to see us capitalize on that."

The Phantoms took that 3-0 lead into the locker room after the second period, and managed to push their lead to 4-0 1:38 into the third with their third power play goal of the game, when forward Taylor Best sent a pass from the left wing corner to Sheehy who slammed it home for his first goal as a member of the Youngstown Phantoms.

"It's been great these past couple of weeks here," said Sheehy. "When I found out I was traded I was excited to get back into a playoff race, and it has been a lot of fun being on this streak."

After Joe Snively put Sioux City on the board 13:53 into the third, Connor sealed the Phantoms' 14th win in a row with an empty netter from the center red line, capping the 5-1 win for the Phantoms.

"All things considered, I thought we were really disciplined towards the end of the game," said Phantoms Head Coach Anthony Noreen. "I was proud of the way our guys were willing to sacrifice their body and do what was best for the team at the time, even though it may not have been easy."

Youngstown outshot the Musketeers, 37-28, while the power play converted on three of their 12 opportunities.

"I felt what we have here with our building, our product, our players, and the crowd was on full display tonight," said Noreen. "It was great to have that fan support tonight and over the course of our run, and are guys are really feeding off of them."

The Phantoms now hit the road for five straight, beginning Friday in Waterloo against the Black Hawks at 8:05pm. ET.

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United States Hockey League Stories from March 14, 2015


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