Phantoms Wrest Home Ice Advantage with Split at USA

April 17, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release


ANN ARBOR, MI (Friday, April 17th, 2009) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms have secured home ice advantage for the remainder of the North Division Finals after finishing with a split against the U.S. National Team in Ann Arbor, MI.

The Nationals were able to salvage the split against Mahoning Valley with a 6-4 win at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube Friday.

Team USA opened the scoring at the 8:54 mark of the first period when Frankie Simonelli took a centering feed from Emerson Etem and one-timed a snap shot past Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett for a 1-0 Nationals lead.

Mahoning Valley evened the score just 13 seconds later when Carl Nielsen pulled the puck into the middle of the Team USA zone and fired a wrister past Nationals netminder Brandon Maxwell to tie the game 1-1 with 8:41 left in the first.

Early in the second period, the Phantoms grabbed the lead when Johnny Meo poked home an Alex Lippincott feed on the power play just 1:17 into the middle frame.

The National Team tied the game back up four minutes later when Austin Czarnik slapped an Etem rebound over Tibbett for a 2-2 score 5:40 into the second.

The Phantoms would reclaim the lead 42 seconds after Czarnik's goal when Josh Bussell tallied his second score in as many games, slapping a loose puck over Maxwell's glove for a 3-2 Mahoning Valley advantage.

Team USA continued the back-and-forth trend with 9:51 left in the second when Jarred Tinordi beat a screened-out Tibbett with a wrist shot from the point on a power play for a 3-3 tie.

The Nationals came out strong in the third period, getting two straight goals from Justin Faulk and Jacob Fallon to open the third, seizing a 5-3 lead in the first six minutes of the final frame.

Mahoning Valley made a late bid to force overtime when Erik Higby tapped a Meo rebound home on the power play with 4:41 remaining in regulation to cut the USA lead to 5-4.

Phantoms head coach Bob Mainhardt pulled Tibbett with 2:03 left to press for the equalizer, but Czarnik ended Mahoning Valley's comeback hopes when he scored into the open net with 1:32 left for the final 6-4 margin.

Tibbett made 31 saves but slipped to 3-2 in the playoffs with the loss.

Maxwell, meanwhile, improved to 4-2 in the postseason, making 30 saves in the win.

The best-of-five series will now take a five-day break before the Phantoms host Team USA at the Chevrolet Centre for Game Three on Thursday, April 23rd, at 7:15 PM.

The game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW-AM, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks with a 7:00 PM pregame show.

The winner of the best-of-five divisional final will advance to the 2009 Robertson Cup Tournament in Mason City, IA, starting April 28th.

All tickets for Game Three are now on sale for $5.00 if purchased on or before Wednesday, April 22nd. All tickets will be $8.50 if purchased on game day.

All Phantoms merchandise is on sale for 40% off at the Phantoms Team Shop at both the Chevrolet Centre and the Ice Zone while the Phantoms are in the playoffs. Call (330) 965-7500 for more information.

The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are owned by the B.J. Alan Company - Phantom Fireworks, located in Youngstown, Ohio.



North American Hockey League Stories from April 17, 2009


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