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RoughRiders get physical in win over Phantoms
RoughRiders’ physical
style works for them
in win at Covelli Centre
By BRIAN DZENIS
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Phantoms’ streak of earning points against the USHL’s top team, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, came to an end Sunday afternoon in a 4-3 defeat.
The Phantoms beat the RoughRiders 6-3 on Friday and previously had just an overtime loss to Cedar Rapids. Giving up an untimely goal late in the first period set things off-kilter.
“I think we didn’t come out as hard as we did on Friday,” Phantoms defenseman and East Palestine native Matt Miller said. “We had a mentality that was off in the first period.”
Cedar Rapids got on the board first after Colton Ross’s goal. Kevin Conley tied things up six minutes later.
Conley was able to sneak the puck past RoughRiders goalie Ben Blacker while he was standing just to the goaltender’s left. That tie stood until the final seconds of the period.
With 20 seconds left in the period, the Phantoms lost a faceoff in their own end of ice, giving Ross another opportunity to score. He did just that with four seconds left in the period.
“That’s an unacceptable goal,” Phantoms coach John Wroblewski said. “I thought their strengths showed through a little bit too much in the first two periods.”
Said Miller: “With 20 seconds left, the first goal is just get the puck out and get out of the period. We were soft off the draw and they capitalized.”
As time hit zero, the two teams got into a shoving match with the Phantoms’ Connor Moore and John Snodgrass wrestling at center ice. That episode alone resulted in a combined 32 minutes in penalties for both sides.
Moore, Snodgrass and Phantoms forward Lukas Craggs were all hit with 10-minute misconduct penalties.
“It’s emotions getting the best of everybody. We consider them to be our rivals every year,” Miller said. “They fly high out there.”
Wroblewski was not a fan of the RoughRiders’ style Sunday afternoon.
“They were certainly coming in and establishing themselves as a team that won’t be pushed around,” Wroblewski said. “I thought they were easy to go down. Any time they were touched, they dove around the ice.”
The teams traded goals in the opening minutes of the second period. Jacob Hayhurst beat Ryan Bednard with a wrister while his team was on the power play and the Phantoms’s James Winkler came right back with a goal.
Cedar Rapids regained its two-goal advantage when a Phantoms attempt to break up a pass to the slot ended up putting it in the path of the RoughRiders’ Tommy DeRoche, who promptly put the puck in the net.
The two-goal lead lasted until the there was five minutes left in the game. A Phantoms player collided with Blacker, leaving him flat on his back and Miller with an open net. Despite protests from Cedar Rapids players, the goal stood.
The Phantoms pulled Bednard with just over a minute left to play, but the six-man Phantoms couldn’t find an equalizer.
The Phantoms have a two-game homestand against the Bloomington Thunder on Friday and Saturday. It’s a series that could have serious playoff implications.
After the Phantoms loss and Bloomington’s 2-1 win against the Dubuque Fighting Saints on Sunday, the Thunder hold the USHL’s fourth and final playoff spot. The Phantoms (22-15-4) are now a point behind the Thunder in the standings.
“The standings will take care of themselves,” Wroblewski said. “We just need to adhere to what we value as a hockey team and make sure we’re on those things on a daily basis,.
“If we continue to go business as usual, we’ll be in the spot that we want to be in.”