Sports stats



Rangers Upend Phantoms

December 19, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Marquette Rangers News Release


Youngstown, Ohio - The Marquette Rangers Tier II Junior A hockey team moved into a second-place tie with Mahoning Valley in the North American Hockey League North Division; defeating the Phantoms 5-2 Friday night at the Chevy Center.

Marquette (15-13-4, 34 pts.) and Mahoning Valley (16-7-2, 34 pts.) are both one point behind division leading Traverse City heading into their game with one another tonight at 7:15. The North Stars play Motor City in a single game Sunday afternoon in Wyandotte.

Chad Pietila opened the scoring for Marquette at 6:41 of the first period with the assist going to his cousin Aaron Pietila. The Rangers would make it 2-0 at 19:16 of the period when newcomer Colin Smith - recently acquired from the Topeka Roadrunners of the NAHL Central Division - scored a power play marker with assists to Scott Henegar and Jimmy Gallagher.

Mahoning Valley would get on the board at 6:37 of the second on a goal from the Phantoms Cole Schneider, but Garrett Ladd would regain the two goal advantage for Marquette at 8:41 with Smith and Ryan McGrath picking up the assists.

The game would remain 3-1 until late when the Rangers iced the contest starting at 14:13 of the third period when Aaron Pietila scored on the power play from Ladd and Smith. 12 seconds later it would be Chad Pietila scoring his second of the evening, beating Phantoms goaltender Jordon Tibbetts from Aaron Pietila and Mike Thompson.

Both Aaron Pietila and Colin Smith registered 3 point nights for the Rangers who beat Mahoning Valley for the second time this season. Both wins this year have come in Youngstown; a place the Rangers had only been victorious twice before in their three year history.

Jordy Trottier would light the lamp for the Phantoms at 16:35 to end the scoring.

Tibbetts would stop 14 of the 19 Rangers shots he faced on the evening, while Kevin Kissaw saw 22 shots from Mahoning Valley; stopping 20 of them for the win. Kissaw, the reigning GDI/NAHL Goalie of The Week saw his individual record improve to 9-5-1 on the season.

• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...

North American Hockey League Stories from December 19, 2008


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.

Other Recent Marquette Rangers Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central