BOX SCORE

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – William Whitelaw's goal at 7:50 of overtime lifted the Youngstown Phantoms to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Steel Tuesday night at the Covelli Centre in Game 4 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Final. Youngstown won the best-of-five series three-games-to-one to earn the second bid to the Clark Cup Final in team history.

"Is there anyone else that's going to score that goal?" asked Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward. "That's Will Whitelaw. He's a big-time player. Will did a phenomenal job in getting to the net. (Chicago) is an offensive team that likes to play offense rather than defense. We were going to have to grind and make it heavy on them. Will getting to the net there and entering the zone, it was a great play."

Backing his way into the offensive zone on the right side, Whitelaw sent the puck around to the left-wing corner and went to the net. In the left corner, Martin Misiak bumped the puck to Shane Lachance, who fired a cross-ice pass to an unguarded Whitelaw, and Whitelaw tapped it to the back of the net, giving Youngstown the win.

After a scoreless first period, Chicago dented the scoreboard first, tallying their fourth power play goal of the series. Jack Harvey blazed a trail down the left boards and snapped a wrister past Jacob Fowler (28 saves) at the 5:24 mark of the second period, giving Chicago their first-ever postseason lead in a game played at the Covelli Centre (four tries). After getting outshot in the first period 19-6, the Steel had the shot counter edge in the second 14-11 in grabbing the lead.

A late third-period power play seem to boost Youngstown's offense as the Phantoms pushed for the tying goal. With 2:10 left in regulation, Fowler headed for the bench to get a sixth attacker on the ice, but before he could make it there, Youngstown tied the game. After Jake Rozzi won a puck battle in the right corner, his pass to the point deflected off Tomas Machu and went to Andon Cerbone. Cerbone's wrister from the right side hit Kenta Isogai in front of the net and redirected behind Christian Manz (42 saves), knotting the game at 1-1 and necessitating the overtime, leading to Whitelaw's heroics.

Youngstown returns to the Clark Cup Final for the first time since 2018, where they find the same opponent waiting for them as five years ago: the Fargo Force. Fargo won the Anderson Cup this season with 88 points in the regular season and knocked off the Tri-City Storm and Lincoln Stars in the Western Conference Playoffs. Games 1 & 2 will take place in North Dakota May 12-13 before the series comes to Youngstown for Games 3 & 4 (if necessary) on May 19-20. Game 5 (if necessary) would be back in Fargo on May 23.

"Fargo is going to be our toughest test yet," said Ward. "We'll be ready, I can guarantee you that."

By the Numbers
Shots – 44
Saves – 28
Power Play – 0/2
Penalty Kill – 1/2
Goals – Isogai, Whitelaw
Assists – Cerbone, Lachance, Machu, Misiak