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Stars rock Phantoms

February 16, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


BOARDMAN, Oh. - If at first you don't succeed ... try again 16 times.

Nate Urbaniak and the Traverse City North Stars put a new twist on that old adage Saturday night in suburban Youngstown, skating to a 4-2 triumph over the host Mahoning Valley Phantoms - the franchise's first victory in 17 tries at the Boardman Ice Zone.

"This was a total continuation from how we finished against them last night," said Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo, whose team is 4-1-3 in its last eight contests. "We owned the third period and it just carried right on through. This team is stating to play really well right now - scary good."

Urbaniak (Perrysburg, OH/Toledo Jr B CSHL) levied a pair of power play goals, the first at 10:06 of the opening period, followed by another at 12:55 of the second - both of which were assisted by Harrison Niemann (Canton, MI/Omaha USHL). Tyler Stephens (Rockford, MI/Blind River NOJHL) wedged a goal in between (7:48), as set up by Urbaniak and Niemann.

"Wow, that line was just awesome," Palumbo said. "The entire weekend, they led us and other followed. Right on down to every single player out there - we competed hard and executed well. We got solid defense and some great goaltending, and that's a pretty good formula for winning."

About three and a half minutes after Urbaniak's second marker, Kory Kaunisto (Sault Ste. Marie, MI/Waterloo USHL) made it a 4-0 rout with a power play effort of his own. Urbaniak and Jonathan Sheridan (Midland, MI/Flint Jr B CSHL) drew helpers.

Chris Paliafito (Shelbyville, KY/Indiana USHL) sparkled in net for the North Stars, stopping 30 of 32 shots, including the first 24 he saw. Paliafito has not been tagged with a regulation loss since Jan. 21, and is 2-0-3 over that span.

"Winning on the road is hard," Palumbo explained, reflecting on the historical significance of the victory. "And Mahoning is a good team, so it's doubly hard. But part of growing as a team is learning how to win on the road. You have to do the little things even better on the road than you do at home. You have to pay the price to win away from home and we're starting to do that."

Traverse City (15-19-11) pulled to within three points of idle Team USA, and eight of Marquette, which occupies the fourth and final playoff spot in the NAHL North Division. The Stars will host third- place Alpena on Friday before visiting the IceDiggers on Saturday evening.

Three of the North Stars won't make it all the way home on Sunday, as Niemann, Urbaniak, and Jameson Raymond (Flint, MI/Bozeman NAHL) will head to Ann Arbor for the NAHL Top Prospects all-star event. The three-day round-robin will pit the best of the North Division against the Central, South, and host Team USA Under-17s/18s. The North will face the Central on Sunday (4 p.m.), the South on Monday (4 p.m.), and close out the event against the U-17s on Tuesday (3:15 p.m.). Each NAHL Top Prospects contest is available via video webcast on b2 Networks.



North American Hockey League Stories from February 16, 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.

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