Phantoms return to action for one game tonight

Staff report

Youngstown

The Youngstown Phantoms had one of those nights last Friday against Team USA.

Unfortunately for the Phantoms, the 10-3 defeat came in the season opener.

Tonight the Phantoms return to the ice looking for a better result against a team they dominated in the 2010-11 United States Hockey league season.

Youngstown (0-1-0) will visit the Chicago Steel for an 8:30 p.m. faceoff at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Ill.

The Phantoms went 6-1-0 against the Steel in 2010-11, outscoring Chicago 27-11.

Ryan Belonger leads all returning Phantoms players with 10 poinbst (six goals and four assists) against the Steel last season, including a hat trick in the final game of the season, an 8-2 win at the Covelli Centre on April 9.

The Phantoms got into an early hole with penalties last Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., and were not able to pull themselves out against Team USA.

It was a learning experience for the Phantoms, who had eight skaters getting their first taste of USHL regular-season action.

The Phantoms did get a good performance out of their first line of Mike Ambrosia, Austin Cangelosi and Belonger, who each registered a goal and an assist.

“The biggest positive out of this is that it’s just one game,” said Phantoms coach Anthony Noreen. “We’ve got 59 games to get better.”

Chicago (1-0-0) opened its season on Saturday night, defeating Team USA 3-2 in a shootout in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Zach Saar had two goals and Michael Fallon added a pair of assists for the Steel, while Mathias Dahlstrom stopped 32 shots in goal. He stopped two of three shots in the shootout.

Saar was one of six players around the USHL who scored at least two goals on opening weekend.

J.T. Copmpher of Team USA had three goals over two games.