Menzione's two goals help Phantoms sweep weekend

Mahoning Valley is tied for third place in the division with the North Stars. By GREG GULAS VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT BOARDMAN -- Two goals by Marc Menzione helped the Mahoning Valley Phantoms to a 4-1 win over the Traverse City North Stars Sunday in North American Hockey League action at The Ice Zone. Drew Satterley and Brad O'Shell each had two assists as the Phantoms won their second straight game to sweep the weekend series with the North Stars. The Phantoms improved to 7-6-0 (14 points) in the North Division. Traverse City lost for the third straight time and fell to 6-7-2 (14 points). The North Stars are tied with the Phantoms for third-place in the division. Coach's reaction "We definitely needed two wins this weekend," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said. "We're just happy that we played like we did in order to secure those victories. "This is a great way to start the home portion of our schedule," Mainhardt said. "[Marc] Menzione is a heart and soul player and he gave everything that had for us today. "That line of Menzione, [Drew] Satterley and [Anthony] Ciraulo had one great weekend, as did goalies [Bryce] Merriam today and [Ryan] Zapolski yesterday," Mainhardt said. Like Saturday, the Phantoms jumped out in front in the first period and never looked back as they led the entire weekend from start to finish. Matt Quigley's third goal of the season, a shorthanded goal with an assist from O'Shell at 6:32 of the opening period, staked the Phantoms to a 1-0 lead. O'Shell and Mike Maltese assisted Milan Drevenak on his second goal of the year, a power play opportunity at 13:59 of the second period. That goal gave Mahoning Valley a 2-0 advantage. Power play goal Less than two minutes later, Menzione scored his first goal on a power play for a 3-0 advantage. "We're a young team and we're making some key mistakes," North Stars coach Scott Gardner said. "Our first-period play has been sluggish off-and-on all season long and that was the case this weekend. "With only one vet, Zeke Costello who played for the Texarkana Bandits last season, we're hoping that our youth and inexperience can get by the early portion of our schedule," Gardner said. "We're also hoping that by late-December or early-January, our young players will then be playing more like seasoned veterans." Adam Sponseller's power play goal for the North Stars at 9:43 of the period cut the Phantoms' margin to 3-1 after two periods. When the North Stars pulled goalie Jeremy Kaleniecki with less than a minute to play in favor of another skater, Menzione's empty net goal with 24 seconds remaining rounded out the scoring. The shots The Phantoms outshot Traverse City, 43-26, as Merriam rejected 25 North Star shots and evened his record at 3-3 when in goal for Mahoning Valley. The Phantoms were 2 for 5 in power play opportunities, holding the visiting North Stars to 1-of-6 on their power play attempts. The Phantoms return to action on Thursday when they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the USA National Team, then will play at the Alpena Ice Diggers on Friday and Saturday. The puck drops at 7 each night.