Phantoms split for 3-1 record

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Phantoms split two games over the weekend as they defeated the Lincoln Stars 4-3 on Friday and dropped a hard fought contest to the Tri-City Storm 5-3 on Saturday night. Six different Phantoms posted multi-point games during the weekend.

In Friday’s game, Ty Loney picked up two more points (1 goal, 1 assist) to increase his season total to four, Mike Ambrosia recorded his first two points of the season (2a) and Cody Strang tallied two points (2a) to give him three on the year.

In the losing effort on Saturday, team captain Adam Berkle recorded his first two points of the season (1 each), Brandon Russo added two more points (2a) as he increased his point total to four and Dylan Margonari tallied his first goal and assist of the season against Tri-City.

In Friday’s game goaltender Matthew O’Connor stopped all 10 shots in the third period to seal the victory. O’Connor stopped 34 of 37 shots in his third straight victory to start the season.

The Phantoms forwards were quick to acknowledge the solid play by their defense in that third period.

“It was great to see our defense step up late in the game,” Ambrosia said. “We did not play a full 60 minutes so coming away with the win was big. O’Connor made some big saves and he really played a huge part in getting us the victory tonight.”

On Saturday, Phantoms forward John Fritsche was involved in the first scrap of the season. His fight was a huge emotional lift to the team but the Phantoms were unable to find the equalizer. Even though they lost the Phantoms (3-1-0, six points) showed a work ethic that will take them far.

“We kept fighting the whole game,” Fritsche said. “It was a great sign to see the team keep responding to every goal they scored.

“There will be times during a season where you will fall behind and to see us continually climb back in just shows the caliber of players we have. Being able to battle is a true characteristic of a championship team and that is something we want to prove all season long.”

Carr was disappointed with the loss but he felt his team played their best game of the season.

“We played really well,” Carr said. “[Tri-City’s goalie Scott] Diebold was huge for them tonight and they were able to get a few bounces to go their way.

“We had a lot of opportunities to get back in the game and he just came up big every time. It is disappointing we lost but I was very happy with the way we played.

“We never gave up and we were right there at the end. I honestly believe we ran just out of time. This was a learning experience for us.”