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Close call bounces against Phantoms
Photo
Muskegon’s Will Graber is mobbed by celebrating teammates including Juraj Mily (12) as Tyler Drevitch (18) watches after Graber scored in double overtime of Saturday’s USHL playoff game against the Youngstown Phantoms. The Lumberjacks lead the best-of-five series, 2-1.
YOUNGSTOWN
Momentum’s a fickle thing, especially in playoff hockey.
So one can only imagine how often it shifted throughout the course of a 4-hour-and-5-minute, double-overtime game.
The most notable swing should be no surprise to the 2,000-plus fans that were in attendance Saturday night at the Covelli Centre. Youngstown Phantoms forward Ryan Lomberg thought he had scored to give his team a two-goal lead over the Muskegon Lumberjacks with about eight minutes to go in the third period. He wasn’t alone.
The red light came on from the goal judge positioned on the glass behind the net. That prompted the goal horn to sound throughout the arena and fans to celebrate what they thought was a big-time insurance goal.
Instead, their arms remained raised in disbelief, as a referee came out from behind the net waving his arms from side-to-side signaling no goal. It appeared to almost everyone in the building to be a goal as the puck got past Lumberjacks goaltender Eric Schierhorn on his blocker side.
“Post and out,” Schierhorn said afterward, with a wry smile across his face. “I mean if that goes post and in, it’s 2-0 and it’s a whole different game.
“That was a lucky bounce and I gotta thank the post on that one.”
Play was stopped moments later and the officiating crew huddled together to confirm what they saw. The explanation given to Phantoms coach Anthony Noreen, apparently, was less than satisfactory.
“I was under the assumption that if a goal light goes on you had to at least check,” Noreen said. “Apparently, they thought it wasn’t in and they decided not to check.
“As far as I know, that was the rule. I don’t know. I may be wrong on that one.”
The USHL does not have their rule book posted online, but in most cases a referee can ask for the goal judge’s advice on disputed goals. However the referee has the final say and can overrule the goal judge. And while the USHL also doesn’t have instant replay, the in-house feed at the Covelli Centre did indeed show the puck ricocheting off the post.
Less than a minute later, Matheson Iacopelli netting the game-tying goal for the Lumberjacks. What went from a possible two-goal lead for the Phantoms resulted in a tie game and loss of momentum.
FRUSTRATION BOILS OVER
When Lumberjacks fourth-line center Will Graber tipped the puck past Phantoms goaltender Colin DeAugustine at 11:08 p.m., he was mobbed along the boards by his teammates to celebrate the 2-1 win.
While everyone in white left the ice happy, those in black were left to ponder what was next. Some showed more frustration than others, but it all seemed to be pointed toward the officiating. The referees swallowed their whistles in both overtime periods, calling just one penalty aside over nearly 35 minutes of play.
The incident that seemed to particularly irk the Phantoms was a hit along the boards to forward Tyler Sheehy. He didn’t get up off the ice right away and slowly skated to the bench after play was stopped.
“Nothing went our way, as usual” Noreen said. “It’s us against the world, but that’s just Youngstown Phantoms hockey. That’s what we’ve become accustomed to.”
Phantoms co-owner Troy Loney shared his coach’s frustration with the lack of penalties and exchanged words with a USHL representative after the game.
SUSPENSION SERVED
Stemming from an incident late in Game 2 on Friday, Lumberjacks forward Keegan Ward was handed a one-game suspension by the league, which he served Saturday night. He’ll be available again for the Lumberjacks today in Game 4.