Monday, November 17, 2014
By Curtis Pulliam
Youngstown
Youngstown Phantoms forward Kyle Connor doesn’t consider himself a pure goal scorer.
“I think I’m kind of versatile,” the University of Michigan commit said Sunday after the Phantoms’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Lincoln Stars at the Covelli Centre.
Whether he thinks it or not, he became the Phantoms all-time leading scorer in the first period. The goal was originally credited to forward Josh Melnick but after review it was awarded to Connor.
He passed Sam Anas for the franchise lead with his 55th career goal.
“It feels pretty unreal at this moment,” Connor said. “It’s such a good organization, top players have come through here and go to the next level. It’s a real honor.”
The third-year Phantom was happy to break the mark at home.
“The first time I came out here, I fell in love with the place,” Connor said. “The coaching staff and the community has been really good to me.”
Tied at three in overtime, Stars forward Biagio Lerario scored with 28 seconds remaining.
“I thought we played much better tonight than we did Friday night,” Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen said. “I would take our game tonight any time before I would take Friday night’s game.”
In overtime, the Phantoms (8-5-2) controlled play and had chances in the Stars’ zone.
Ryan Lomberg carried the puck into Stars territory when he lost his stick. The Stars (5-6-2) took advantage of the turnover and turned it into the game-winning goal.
“That’s hockey. A lot of times it goes like that,” Noreen said. “Really, that was their first opportunity in overtime. Give them credit — they buried it.”
Phantoms goalie Chris Birdsall came up big midway through the third period. The Stars fired a shot on Birdsall and on the rebound, Birdsall threw his stick at the puck keeping the game at 3-2.
“I got into a little trouble, had to do a little desperation so I just tossed my stick out,” Birdsall said. “I just tried to get something out there to stop it.”
Birdsall made 29 saves.
“I thought he made the saves he was supposed to make,” Noreen said. “That was as big a save as we’ve seen all year.”
Connor’s goal gave the Phantoms a 1-0 six minutes into the game.
The Stars tied it up at one later in the first on a Miguel Fidler goal.
The Phantoms regained the lead in the second. Forward Trey Bradley brought the puck in the zone, lost it and then fired a shot on Stars goalie Cam Hackett. Teammate Taylor Best was there to put the rebound home.
“I saw him [Best] going to the net so I just tried to throw it off of him,” Bradley said.
Bradley was credited with an assist.
“After you lose one like that, it’s tough,” Bradley said. “I thought we out-worked them all night and had the better chances by far.”
Stars forward Michael Gillespie tied the game at two.
“When it comes down to it, I think we fell asleep for two minutes and a few plays and they took advantage,” Best said. “I don’t think we got the bounces tonight.”
Stars forward Grant Jozefek scored early in the third for a 3-2 lead but Phantoms forward Josh Nenadal quickly tied the game at three.
Despite the overtime loss, Noreen was happy with the effort.
“I thought we played hard, physical and fast. I thought we stuck up for each other,” Noreen said. “I liked the way we played.”