Phantoms rally, earn split in exhibitions

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — Trailing 1-0, the Youngstown Phantoms scored three unanswered goals Saturday to defeat the Chicago Steel, 3-1, to earn a split of their weekend exhibition games.

Friday, the Steel defeated Youngstown’s USHL expansion team, 6-2.

Tom Serratore, Ben Paulides and Stuart Higgins contributed their first goals of exhibition play to help Youngstown overcome a 1-0 deficit in the second period.

Goalie Matt Mahalak, turned away 30 of 31 Chicago shots on the way to the victory.

In a contentious contest that featured 48 combined penalty minutes, the Phantoms held Chicago off the board in 10 power-play opportunities, setting the tone for a strong defensive performance overall.

Although the Phantoms were shorthanded four times in the opening period, they enjoyed the better scoring chances, highlighted by Higgins drilling the crossbar in the early going.

Youngstown’s best period was largely due to its strong penalty killing, which forced Chicago to the perimeter and closed down any available shooting lanes.

Chicago’s Greg Wolfe scored after collecting his own rebound four minutes into the second period.

Serratore scored the equalizer 39 seconds later due to sustained offensive zone puck possession by Youngstown.

Defenseman Scott Mayfield gathered a loose puck in the high slot and whistled a wrister wide left, but Serratore was positioned to collect the carom off the end boards and sweep it into the open side of the goal.

Following a Taylor Holstrom faceoff win in the Chicago end, Paulides scored with a shot through traffic.

With the teams skating 4-on-4 at 4:48 of the third, Higgins made good on his second scoring chance, floating a 30-footer off the leg of Chicago defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and through goaltender Connor Wilson’s legs.

The Phantoms have three more exhibition games at the USHL Fall Classic from Sept. 24-26 at Sioux City, Iowa.