43
Phantoms top Thunder again
Youngstown notches
4th win vs. Thunder
By Curtis Pulliam
youngstown
Josh Nenadal thought about getting off the ice for a change during a penalty kill midway through the second period.
It’s a good thing he didn’t, because his extra effort paid off.
Nenadal scored a huge short-handed goal to propel the Youngstown Phantoms to a 5-3 victory over the Bloomington Thunder on Saturday at the Covelli Centre.
“I was gassed — I didn’t want to go on the rush,” Nenadal said. “Luckily, I did.”
Nenadal skated down the ice following teammate Josh Melnick on a breakaway. Melnick fired a shot off the crossbar and the puck bounced right to Nenadal.
“I just closed my eyes and took a shot,” Nenadal said, laughing. “That was just being at the right place at the right time.”
Nenadal’s third goal of the season gave the Phantoms a 4-2 lead.
Nenadal had three goals in 55 games last year.
“You have no idea,” said Nenadal on how happy he was after the goal.
“It was big,” said Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen said. “Josh two nights in a row with game-changing short-handed goals. He’s a guy that doesn’t get a lot of credit.”
The Phantoms got off to a hot start in the first period. Ryan Lomberg scored the first goal for a 1-0 lead.
After the Thunder’s Blake Gober received a five-minute major for fighting, Lomberg scored again on a pass from Taylor Best to make it 2-0.
“The boys were moving at the start and we were doing what we had to do,” Lomberg said. “On that second goal Best got it (the puck) up high and faked a shot and he slid it down to me. It was a wide-open shot.”
Chase Pearson added a second goal on the power play to make it 3-0.
“I loved our start, probably the first 10- 15 minutes,” Noreen said. “We got a chance on the five-minute power play and did what we are supposed to do.”
The Thunder came storming back in the second period.
A minute in, Jalen Smereck scored on the power play to cut the lead to 3-1.
A Shane Bednard goal put the Thunder within a goal until Nenadal’s goal at the 12:52 mark.
“In the second period we were just OK,” Noreen said. “We need to get better. We talk about playing the way we are capable of playing. I didn’t think we played that way in the second.
“I think it had to do with mental toughness and maturity. It’s about handling those situations the right way.”
Nenadal knew his team needed a boost.
“We were starting to get a little lackadaisical out there,” Nenadal said. “We shouldn’t have.”
This was the fourth game against the Thunder in 20 days for the Phantoms.
“You just have to have an all-out mindset,” Nenadal said. “You can’t really focus on what the other team is going to do.”
Colin DeAugustine made 25 saves on 28 shots for the Phantoms (6-2-1).
“I thought I played pretty well,” DeAugstine said. “I probably should have stopped the second goal. Thought it was kind of weak. Other than that, I thought the team played well in front of me.”