Phantom Squirts take second at MLK tournament

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Neighbors | Submitted.Boardman's Nick Beck defended the goal during the Youngstown Phantom Squirts tournament play in Jamestown, New York Jan. 15 through the 17..Beck stopped several shots and helped his team take second place at the tournament.  

The Youngstown Phantoms Squirt hockey team traveled to Jamestown, N.Y., and took second place at the Martin Luther King weekend tournament.

In the preliminary games, the Phantoms went 2-1, which earned them a spot into the finals.

The first game had the Phantoms facing the Fredonia (NY) Steelers. After falling behind 1-0 at the end of the first period, the Phantoms got the offense in gear and scored the next six goals to earn a 6-1 victory.

Scoring for the Phantoms was Devin Whitaker (Boardman) with three goals, Matthew Baggethun (Boardman) with two goals and Alex Laberto (Boardman) getting his first goal of the year.

Nick Beck was at goal the entire tournament.

Later that evening, the Phantoms took on the North Pittsburgh Vipers. Youngstown kept the scoring going, winning 5-1. Dominic Joseph (Canfield) started the scoring with his goal late in the first period.

Whitaker finished out the Phantoms’ scoring with one goal in the first period and three more in the final period.

Sunday morning, the Phantoms faced the Buffalo Shamrocks, who were the eventual champions.

Whitaker scored first only 1:37 into the game. The Shamrocks answered that goal late in the period.

Defense and great goal tending dominated the remainder of the game. Beck stopped three breakaway shots. Danny Beistel (Canfield), Vince Hepola (Canfield) and Macy Banner (Canton) led the defense. The game remained tied until 52 seconds left in the third period when the Shamrocks scored the game-winner.

The Phantoms earned enough points in the first three games to force a rematch with the Shamrocks in the finals. The championship game continued where the last one left off. Both defenses kept the other from scoring. Beck again stopped several shots from his goalie position.

The game remained scoreless through the first two periods and over half of the final period. Buffalo scored on a power play with 4:20 remaining in the game to end the tie.

As the clock wound down the Phantoms tried all they could to get the tying goal, including pulling the goalie for the extra attacker. Buffalo took advantage and tacked on two more late goals for the 3-0 victory.