Nenadal scores twice as Phantoms tie series

By TOM WILLIAMS

williams@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

In a must-win game, the Youngstown Phantoms’ grinders and blockers rose to the occasion in Friday’s USHL playoff game against the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Co-captain Josh Nenadal scored two goals and goaltender Colin DeAugustine stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third period as the Phantoms defeated the Muskegon Lumberjacks, 4-2, at the Covelli Centre.

Youngstown tied the series at one game apiece, setting up tonight’s pivotal Game 3, also at the Covelli Centre.

“Huge game [tonight],” Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen said. ”We’ve got to get better — it’s a series.”

Forty-eight hours after the Lumberjacks won Game 1, 5-4 in overtime in Muskegon, the Phantoms surged with two goals early in the second period.

Kyle Connor snapped a 1-1 tie after a fabulous steal at the blue line by Kiefer Sherwood. After coughing up the puck on a power play, Sherwood immediately made amends by pouncing on the loose puck just inside the blue line.

He skated hard toward the boards and sent a shot-pass to Connor behind Lumberjacks goaltender Eric Schierhorn for an easy deflection goal.

Three minutes later, Nenadal’s long wrist shot bounced off a Lumberjacks defender and past Schierhorn for a 3-1 lead.

“I picked up the puck in our zone, I saw I had a lot of ice in front of me — the defensemen were shaded to the outside so I went to the middle,” Nenadal said. “I didn’t get a lot of wood on it but it was enough to get it into the net.”

The fourth-seeded Lumberjacks were far from finished. Minutes later, Matt Iacopelli scored on a breakaway, his second goal of the game.

Things became dicey for the USHL’s top team in the third period when it was outshot 11-4.

“What I liked about the third, I thought we bent a lot but we never broke,” Noreen said. “They got looks but when it was Grade A [chances], we blocked the shot.

“Colin was tremendous in net,” Noreen said. “We had a lot of big-time shot blocks and we did enough to win.”

DeAugustine finished with 28 saves.

“I saw a lot of shots but the D made a lot of blocks in front of me,” DeAugustine said. “I kicked out a few rebounds and they cleared them out of the way. “It’s definitely fun, but [makes you] a little nervous. One bad bounce and they can be back in it so I’m more of a fan of a two-or-three goal lead.”

Defenseman Kris Myllari credited DeAugustine for solid play.

“He calmed us down, he had a ton of poise, he was big,” Myllari said. “The goals against were just unfortunate bounces. He didn’t see the one.”

Myllari was referring to Iacopelli’s first-period goal on a long shot when DeAugustine was screened by defenseman Vas Kolias.

“He was right in front of me,” DeAugustine said. “I didn’t see it until it was already behind me. The team came back well, we got one right back.”

Nenadal’s first goal tied the game midway through the first period.

DeAugustine’s performance has given his coaches something to think about. As the Phantoms closed the regular season with 21 wins in 23 games, Noreen alternated DeAugustine and Chris Birdsall, the goalie in Wednesday’s game. His playoff plan is to use both.

“We’ll talk to the guys in the morning and we’ll make a decision from there,” Noreen said of his Game 3 starter.

The victory assures there will be a game 4 Monday in Muskegon.

“This is a huge momentum game for us,” Nenadal said. “To tie the series up and have the third game at home [tonight] there’s nothing more we can ask for.”