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USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Schierhorn Stands Tall as Jacks Sweep Improved Phantoms

March 15, 2014 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


MUSKEGON, Michigan - One of Anthony Noreen's mantras as head coach of the Phantoms has been to get better with each passing day.

In hockey, a game of inches, sometimes merely looking at the scoreboard is too cursory an evaluative tool. In watching the Phantoms on Saturday night, despite Muskegon emerging with a 2-1 victory and a series sweep, it was clear that Youngstown indeed took something out of Friday night's game to improve on Saturday.

"We were the better team tonight," said Noreen. "Without a doubt, they were better team last night, but we were the better team tonight for all three periods. I thought we outplayed them in the first, we definitely outplayed them in the second, and I thought we outplayed them in the third. I thought we were desperate from the get go, and we without a doubt deserved better. If you went and looked at quality scoring chances, it was probably the most that we've had in a game all year."

The Phantoms were stymied all night by Lumberjacks goaltender Eric Schierhorn, who stopped 40 of 41 shots en route to his second consecutive win over the Phantoms. It was a far cry from his performance on Friday, when he only had to make 19 saves to earn the victory.

Sean Romeo was good in net for the Phantoms as well, turning aside 29 of 31 shots on goal, but after falling behind 2-1, the Phantoms could not equalize despite chance after chance against Schierhorn.

"It's one of those things where if we weren't getting chances, we'd worry," said Noreen. "Last night, we didn't have that many chances. There was a lot that needed to be fixed after last night's game, and I thought our guys did a good job of adjusting to the few things that we did adjust. Our line shakeups allowed for some cohesion, and more playmaking... If you're being non-results oriented, and just looking at the process, I'm extremely happy with the way the guys battled and played tonight."

Muskegon led 1-0 after one on a goal by Chris Dodero, and they extended it to 2-0 in the second period through Matt Iacopelli. Maxim Letunov convered on a nice centering pass from Josh Melnick to make it 2-1 at 15:49 of the second, but the Phantoms could not find the game-tying goal despite buzzing around the Muskegon net for much of the third.

"Losing is frustrating no matter what," said Noreen, when asked to compare last night's performance with tonight's. "You don't sleep either way. It doesn't really matter. Tonight was a step in the right direction, so that you can live with. When you get better from yesterday to today, that you can live with. That, as a coach, eases it a little bit.

"But again, we have to find a way to win these games, especially when you play that well. Good teams find a way to win when they get outplayed, but you definitely need to win when you outplay an opponent."

The Phantoms must now regroup ahead of a three-in-three next weekend, which will include road games at Indiana and Team USA. Despite the sweep this weekend, Noreen liked his team's desperation level and believes that, as time progresses, they will continue to improve.

"[Winning] comes with maturity, it comes with experience, and it comes with desperation. I thought we were desperate for the most part tonight, but again, you can't give teams-especially good teams-a lead, and [Muskegon] did a good job holding onto it."

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