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Phantoms’ arena has become a House of Horrors
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Over the last month, the Youngstown Phantoms have morphed into road warriors, winning five straight games away from the Covelli Centre.
Last weekend, the Phantoms (22-13-5, 49 points) posted the first three-game road sweep in franchise history, winning once against the Muskegon Lumberjacks (24-13-3, 51 points) and twice against the Madison Capitols (17-14-8, 42 points).
“We’ve got to keep it up [because] we’re not satisfied,” Phantoms co-captain Ryan Lomberg said. “We’ve got a big weekend coming up.”
At the Covelli Centre, the results of late have been frustrating as rthe Phantoms have lost their last four home games. Two were shutouts.
“It’s unacceptable, definitely something we need to improve on,” Phantoms head coach Anthony Pacers said. “To make the [championship] run we want to make, you have to take care of business at home.”
Tonight and Saturday, the fourth-place Phantoms will seek their first home success since they swept the Green Bay Gamblers (14-20-5, 33 points) on Jan. 9-10. It won’t be easy — the opponent will be the second-place Dubuque Fighting Saints (24-10-4,52 points).
“It’s a huge weekend for us,” Lomberg said. “Dropping the last four at home, we need to figure out [how to get a win].”
Maybe they should switch locker rooms and benches. The Phantoms have been monsters in their road uniforms.
“We’re a pretty close-knit group so on the road we come together a little bit more and there aren’t as many distractions,” Phantoms forward Matt Alvaro said. “On home ice, we maybe tend to over-think a little bit too much.”
Lomberg agreed.
“We like going on the road — we kind of simplify our game, try not to put on a show as much as we would at home,” Lomberg said.
Last weekend’s hero was goaltender Colin DeAugustine who won all three games (3-2 over Lumberjacks, 2-1 shootout and 5-0 over Capitols).
Noreen said his original plan was to start Chris Birdsall in one of the three games. But DeAugustine did so well in Muskegon that Noreen decided to stay with the hot hand.
“Colin did a tremendous job [in Madison],” Noreen said, “stopping all four shots in the shootout. “
Wasn’t it risky?
“They didn’t have many attempts — it’s not like he saw 100 shots,” Noreen said.
With two wins against the Saints, the Phantoms could leap over the Fighting Saints and Lumberjacks into second place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. The top four teams in the conference will qualify for the postseason.
Youngstown has a six-point lead over the fifth-place Bloomington Thunder (18-16-7, 43 points).