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Four unanswered goals rally Phantoms past Steel
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Phantoms scored four unanswered goals in Saturday’s 6-4 victory over the Chicago Steel at the Covelli Centre.
The Phantoms wiped out a 3-1 deficit with the outburst in the USHL Eastern Conference game.
Phantoms captain Matt Alvaro scored two goals while Kevin Conley, Sean Petrie, Tommy Apap and Cameron Morrison scored the others for Youngstown (13-9-7).
With just one win in the last seven outings to show for their efforts, Alvaro said it was great to get back on the winning side of the ledger.
“We needed this one,” Alvaro said. “I thought we played pretty good hockey last weekend, but didn’t get the bounces. Tonight, we got a couple good bounces.
“They’re a pretty good team over there,” Alvaro said. “We made some adjustments after the first period, came out hard in the second and then held them off in the third.”
Chicago struck just 35 seconds into the game when Max Zimmer, assisted by Jake Jaremko, launched his fourth goal of the season past Phantoms goalie Colin DeAugustine.
The Phantoms knotted the game at 12:27 of the frame when Sean Petrie netted his first goal of the campaign.
Two goals 64 seconds apart as time was winding down staked the Steel to a 3-1 lead after the first 20 minutes of play. Tanner Laczynski’s 10th goal and team-best 30th point put Chicago ahead 2-1. Matt Kiersted added a breakaway goal shortly after.
While the Steel use the opening period to flex their muscles early, it was all Youngstown at the outset of the middle frame as they scored two quick goals a little more than two minutes apart to knot the game at 3-3.
Alvaro’s tally just 48 seconds in cut the Chicago margin to 3-2. Apap followed with his third goal of the year at 2:07.
Alvaro’s second goal of the game at 17:07 gave the Phantoms a 4-3 lead.
A goal by Kevin Conley a little over five minutes into the final period gave the Phantoms a 5-3 lead, but Marcel Godbout’s tally at 16:29 pulled Chicago to within a goal.
“After being down two goals after the first period, we responded really well in the second,” Conley said. “We came together as a team in the second and realized what was at stake. A win [today] will be a real confidence booster.”
Morrison’s empty netter with 18 seconds remaining sealed the victory for the Phantoms as they improved to 9-4-2 at home.
“The second period was huge tonight,” Phantoms head coach John Wroblewski said. “We were down 3-1, win the second period 3-0. While they [Chicago] set the tone early, this team has proven time and again that they can come back and they did tonight.”