Phantoms' series with Barons tied; more to come this weekend

By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- For the Mahoning Valley Phantoms junior amateur hockey team, Saturday's heartbreaking loss is history.
"I'm over it," Phantoms goalie Ryan Zapolski said of the Cleveland Barons' 5-4 victory at the Ice Zone that tied their best-of-five series at 1-1. "It hangs with you for two days.
"We're fine -- [a blown lead] is something that's always going to happen to a team in the playoffs," Zapolski (21-13-4) said. "It's better that it happened now instead of later."
Marc Menzione, the Phantoms' top scorer, agrees.
"It was a tough loss to swallow considering [we were] up three goals, but you've got to get rid of it," said Menzione, who will play for Division I Bentley College next fall. "It's playoffs and it just makes this a better series. That's hockey."
What's next
Now that the series has been reduced to a best-of-three, the Barons and Phantoms could be playing this weekend three times within 48 hours.
Friday, Game 3 will be at Parma's Lakefront Lines Arena at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Game 4 begins at 7 p.m. at The Ice Zone on McClurg Road. If necessary, Game 5 will be Sunday at 3 p.m. in Parma.
Zapolski and Menzione were impressed with the amount of Phantoms fans who attended last Thursday's Game 1, a 2-1 victory for Mahoning Valley.
"Usually in the regular season, our fans aren't there," Zapolski said of road games. "But when we scored a goal, they went nuts. It definitely helps to have fans there. When you have more fans there than they do, it definitely helps you out."
Menzione, who leads the Phantoms with 75 points (29 goals, 46 assists), said hearing cheers on the road is "huge. It was nice to see that we got the same support that we get here up there. It was like we were playing two home games, which was nice."
They know Barons
Menzione isn't surprised that the Barons rallied from a 3-0 deficit in Game 2.
"Throughout the season, they've had the upper hand, but everything counts now," said the native of Darien, Ill.
Zapolski said there aren't many surprises to be unleashed in this series.
"We've played each other 16 times including playoffs so you get to know them quite well over the season," Zapolski said. "All the rosters are frozen, so you can't get any new players. We pretty much know each other now."
Despite the loss, Zapolski said the Phantoms learned from Game 2.
"You realize that when you've got a 3-0 lead, that's the best you could possibly play in the first period," Zapolski said. "If we can string together three periods like that, we're going to be fine."
Because the Phantoms are the hosts for the North American Hockey League's national tournament, the Phantoms are guaranteed a spot in the finals (May 10-13 at the Ice Zone). That's not good enough for Zapolski.
On-ice success preferred
"You don't want to go into a tournament on a losing streak," Zapolski said. "You want to do the best you can in the playoffs even though you're automatically going -- you still want to win."
The Barons-Phantoms winner will play the Traverse City-U.S. National Team winner in a best-of-seven series for a berth in the national tournament. If the Phantoms eliminate the Barons, the Traverse City-Nationals winner also will qualify for the finale.
williams@vindy.com