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Ambrosia lifts Phantoms during shootout
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
As tough as the Youngstown Phantoms are to beat on their own ice, the Indiana Ice are equally impressive when they take to the road.
The Phantoms (7-3-0, 14 points) were the more impressive team, however, on Saturday night at the Covelli Centre.
Mike Ambrosia’s goal, the only score by either team in the shootout session, lifted Youngstown to a 4-3 win over the Ice in USHL action.
The Phantoms are undefeated at home in four tries this season.
“I was just coming down the ice and saw a lot of room up at the top,” Ambrosia said. “When I shot the puck, I was just hoping that it would find its way into the net and it did.”
Coming off a 4-1 road loss to the Muskegon Lumberjacks on Friday, Ambrosia said the key to victory over their Eastern Conference foe was playing a full 65 minutes — and then some.
“We had 20 guys going all out for 65 minutes,” Ambrosia said. “We didn’t have that effort last night.
“We talked about it this morning, then went out and made sure that everyone did what they needed to do and the end result was this big win,” Ambrosia said.
The Ice (7-2-1, 4-1-1 road, 15 points) struck first when Robbie Baillargeon notched his third goal of the season at 18:35 of the opening period.
Indiana increased its lead to 2-0 on their initial shot of the second stanza when Ian Spencer scored his first goal of the year 4:22 into the frame.
The Phantoms then flexed their muscles, getting on the board at 9:14 when Ryan Belonger’s fourth goal of the year zipped past the outstretched hand of goalie Jon Gillies to cut the Ice lead in half at 2-1.
Alex Gacek tied the game.
Dylan Margonari, with an assist from J.T. Stenglein (his second of the game) at 10:42 of the final period, gave the Phantoms the lead.
But the advantage fell by the wayside with just 52 seconds remaining in regulation when Baillargeon’s second goal of the game sailed by Phantoms goalie Matt O’Connor.
In overtime, the Ice managed three shots on goal to the Phantoms’ one.
“The special thing about tonight’s win is that group of guys in the locker room,” Phantoms coach Anthony Noreen said. “They’ve bought into our system, continue to finish every hit, work hard and just keep playing tough, blue-collar hockey.
“Mike [Ambrosia] embodies every single thing that I want from my team,” Noreen said. “He does everything with enthusiasm, both on and off the ice and always leads by example.”
The Ice held a 39-27 shot advantage with Indiana going 0-for-3 on power play opportunities and the Phantoms 0-for-4.