SCOUTING REPORT

SCOUTINGREPORT
Youngstown Phantoms
The match-up: The Junior-A North American Hockey League presents the Youngstown Phantoms (9-7-5, 23 points) vs. the Toledo Ice Diggers (6-15-3, 15 points) tonight, and vs. the Cleveland Barons (13-6-2, 28 points) Saturday. Opening face-off is 7 p.m. both nights at The Ice Zone in Boardman.
Looking to get on track: Youngstown is winless in its last five games, going 0-4-1 during that stretch ... The five-game winless streak began after the Phantoms handed the Soo Indians their first loss of the season November 1 at The Ice Zone ... Youngstown went 2-1-1 in September and 6-2-3 in October, but is 1-4-1 so far in November ... The Phantoms last saw action on Saturday (November 15) when they dropped a 2-1 decision on the road to the Springfield Junior Blues in an overtime shootout ... Springfield (16-2-1, 33 points) is the first-place team in the NAHL North ... The Phantoms enter the weekend in fifth place in the NAHL North, five points behind fourth-place Cleveland ... Offense has been a problem for Youngstown in recent weeks ... After scoring a total of 11 goals in back-to-back games against the Bozeman Ice Dogs and Dayton Gems on October 18 and October 24, the Phantoms have not scored more than three goals in any of their nine games since ... During that stretch, Youngstown has been limited to one goal three times and been shutout once -- 2-0 by the Springfield Junior Blues last Friday (November 14)...Centers Carson Strang (nine goals, seven assists) and Tommy Kolar (six goals, 10 assists) are tied for the Phantoms club lead in scoring with 16 points each ... Youngstown won six straight games between September 27 and October 16, but has since gone 3-7-4.
Toledo: The Ice Diggers last saw action Wednesday when they dropped a 5-2 decision to the USA 17-and-Under National Team in Ann Arbor, MI ... The leading scorer for Toledo is center Joe Federoff, who has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists)...The Phantoms and Ice Diggers have played twice previously this season -- both times at Toledo -- with each team winning once ... Youngstown won 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Tommy Kolar on October 1 and Toledo registered a 4-2 victory on November 5. ... The Ice Diggers have dropped three of four since then ... The victory during that stretch was a 4-3 win over Cleveland ... Jason Kearney (6-10-1), a back-up with the NAHL champion Pittsburgh Forge last season, gets the bulk of the work in goal for Toledo.
Cleveland: The Phantoms and the Barons have split the four previous games played between the two teams this season ... Youngstown swept a home-and-home series October 10-11 by scores of 3-0 and 7-2, but Cleveland took both ends of a series at The Ice Zone on November 7-8, winning 5-2 and 4-3 ... Barons goaltender Ian Keserich (12-5-1, 3.20 goal-against average) has committed to Ohio State for next season ... The Phantoms have dealt Keserich two of his five losses ... The native of Parma, OH, surrendered five goals in Youngstown‚s 7-2 triumph at Cleveland on October 11. ... Forward Brian Bicek leads the Barons with 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) and forward Mike Ruberto is right behind him with 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists).
Tickets: Call (330) 965-7500 or visit The Ice Zone at 360 McClurg Road in Boardman. Tickets are also available at the door on game days. Individual game tickets are priced at $9 for Club Level seats, $7 for general admission, and $5 for children ages 10 and under. Season ticket packages and group discounts (20 or more) are also available.
-- Phantoms