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Area school kids watch Phantoms fall to the Ice
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Ryan Belonger makes a one legged shot past Jordan Young of Indiana Wed morning at the Covelli Center. The Phantoms took on the Indiana Ice in a 10 am game with school children from the area attending.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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The Phantoms' Stephen Collins and Indiana's Tim Smith go for the puck Wednesday morning at the Covelli Center.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Irene Denney, a 6th grader from Niles, shows her team spirit during a Phantoms Hockey game Wednesday morning at the Covelli Center. The Phantoms took on the Indiana Ice in a 10 a.m. game with school children from the area attending.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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School children enjoy themselves at Phantoms Hockey game Wednesday morning at the Covelli Center.
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the second period, the Youngstown Phantoms collapsed in Wednesday’s late-morning USHL game at the Covelli Centre for their fifth loss in six games.
The Indiana Ice caught fire late in the middle frame, scoring four unanswered goals in the final 25 minutes for a 5-3 victory over the Phantoms (14-22-4, 32 points) who were playing in their fourth game in five-and-a-half days.
“We looked a little tired and a little sloppy,” Phantoms coach Curtis Carr said after the Phantoms’ second game in less than 48 hours. “It’s been a tough stretch, a lot of games in a short amount of time ... but there are no excuses, we’ve got to find a way to win.”
The Phantoms played Monday afternoon in Chicago, got back to Youngstown on Tuesday at 4 a.m. and then gathered Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. for a late morning start.
Scott Mayfield, Stephen Collins and Mike Ambrosia scored to put the Phantoms ahead, 3-1, a little more than midway through the game.
“I liked the way we started off,” Carr said.
The Ice outshot the Phantoms, 42-25. Goaltender Jordan Tibbett (1-3-0), who played in all four games since Friday, made 27 saves.
“Most of the shots were from the perimeter,” Carr said. “Jordan is playing well and maybe the guys are thinking, ‘Hey, we’ve got Jordan back there and he’s going to make big saves.’
“And we got away a little bit from our defensive structure.”
With 4:31 to go in the second period, Brian Ferlin’s shot from the slot beat Tibbett to slice the Phantoms’ lead to 3-2. Alex Barron set up the goal.
Two minutes later, Peter Schneider pounced on a Phantoms’ giveaway near the net and tied the game.
The Ice (24-12-3, 51 points) wasted little time grabbing the lead. Thirty-six seconds into the third period, Schneider beat Tibbett from about eight feet away for the Ice’s first lead. David Johnstone and Alex Wildeman assisted.
The lead grew to 5-3 with 9:10 remaining when Blake Coleman scored his second goal on a power play. With Chris Bradley watching from the penalty box, Coleman took a feed in the slot and beat Tibbett, with assists to Daniil Tarasov and Schneider.
Back in the first period, pinching defensemen triggered the Phantoms’ first goal. Five minutes into the game, Ben Paulides carried the puck down the right wing then slipped a pass to Mayfield in the slot. His shot eluded Ice goaltender Jon Gillies for a power-play goal.
“Their [penalty] kill is pretty aggressive and they throw pucks up the wall,” Carr said. “We told our [defensemen] that if you get a chance to seal the wall and pinch it right back down ... we may be able to trap a couple of their guys up high.”
Nine minutes later, the Ice tied the game when Coleman’s soft shot from the slot went through Tibbett’s pads. Ferlin earned an assist.
“He got a nice little poke on it and caught Jordan by surprise,” Carr said.
About two minutes into the second period, Collins snapped the 1-1 tie. Perched to Gillies’ right, Collins took a pass from Adam Berkle and quickly shot it into the net. Andrew Sinelli earned the other assist.
The lead grew to 3-1 with eight minutes remaining in the middle period when Gillies fumbled a shot by Dan Mattson and the Phantoms capitalized. The puck bounced off the Ice goaltender into the slot where Ambrosia backhanded it into the net. Alex Gacek, who was acquired by the Phantoms from the Ice in December, also assisted.