Phantoms rally for 7-5 triumph

Mahoning Valley scored five times in the final 20 minutes.
By GREG GULAS
Vindicator Correspondent
BOARDMAN -- Dennis Urban's power-play goal with 59 seconds remaining in regulation gave Mahoning Valley its first lead of Friday's game.
Owen Meyer's empty-net tally 37 seconds later capped a five-goal third period, lifting the Phantoms to a 7-5 victory over the Alpena Ice Diggers in a North American Hockey League Showcase game at The Ice Zone.
"This was a well-played game by two solid teams," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said.
"We did what we wanted to the first two periods, but stuck to our game plan and in the end that is what carried us.
"Urban has been gripping the stick tight the last couple of games, but was on for us tonight," Mainhardt said.
"His play created some really good things for us and his goal to give us the lead was just icing on the cake."
Two-goal edge
For the better part of two periods, the Ice Diggers controlled the tempo of the game and led 4-2 with a little more than three minutes gone in the final period.
A goal by Drew Satterley at 3:06 pulled Mahoning Valley to within a goal and when Mike Maltese scored a shorthanded goal at 5:25, the Phantoms tied the score at 4.
When the Ice Diggers' Nolan Craner scored on a power-play opportunity just 3:09 into the contest, his goal ended a 134:24 scoreless streak registered by Phantom goalies Ryan Zapolski and Bryce Merriam.
That stretch covered the past four games in which Phantoms net-keepers held the opposition scoreless.
Matt Quigley's fourth goal of the season for the Phantoms at 6:01 of the opening stanza, also on the power play, tied the score at a goal apiece. But Alpena's Drew Pierson registered the first of his two goals at 16:11, also on a power play to give the Ice Diggers a 2-1 advantage with.
Lead doubled
Pierson's unassisted marker at 8:01 of the second period increased the Ice Diggers' lead to 3-1, but Marc Menzione's team-leading 19th goal of the year at 12:32, a shorthanded score, made it 3-2.
Chris Hendrickson's power play goal at 13:30 then increased the Ice Diggers' lead to 4-2 after two periods.
Satterley's second goal at 12:41 of the final period gave the Phantoms a 5-4 lead, but Erik Peterson's goal at 13:32 tied the score again.
Tough at home
The Phantoms (22-11-3) improved to 14-1-2 at The Ice Zone and with 47 points, are three points behind the Cleveland Barons in the league's North Division.
The Ice Diggers (6-27-4) lost for the second straight night and are 0-12-1 in their last 13 contests. The Phantoms own an 8-1 mark against Alpena this season.
The Phantoms outshot the Ice Diggers, 45-37, while Merriam improved to 7-4 in goal.
In other games, David Nicoletti's two goals helped the Springfield Jr. Blues to a 5-4 victory over the Barons while Rhett Rakhshani's hat trick and two goals by Patrick Kane lifted the USA National Team to a 10-0 victory over the Traverse City North Stars.
The Phantoms play host to the National team at 4 p.m. today at the Chevrolet Centre.