BOX SCORE

Youngstown, OH – The Youngstown Phantoms (20-10-4-1, 45pts) picked up their first home victory of 2024 with a 5-1 win over the U17s Saturday night. Strong goalie play and all-around scoring helped extend the Phantoms winning streak to three games.

After dropping the first two home games of the calendar year, Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward thought his team gave the 2,337 fans in attendance a needed reminder of how the team is capable of playing.

"I thought [the game] was good. It was a little chippy; our guys play with a lot of passion generally and certainly after the last home stand we had at Covelli, I think they had something to prove in front of our fans." Ward said.

It was all Phantoms in the first period. Ryan Botterill got the scoring started after he sliced through the middle of the defense and roofed a shot into the net at 8:32. Daniel Jencko cashed in a two-on-one at 17:09 off a beautiful pass from Charlie Cerrato to end the period up by two.

The U17s narrowed the deficit quickly in the second on Cullen Potter's one timer at 1:21. Hunter Ramos rattled a shot off both bars and found the back of the net off a face-off at 15:28 to extend the lead back to a pair at 3-1.

It was all Phantoms from then on. Adam Pietila scored his team leading 16^th goal at 2:30 of the third and Jencko picked up his second goal of the night 51 seconds later, converting a penalty shot with a nifty move after a Team USA defender was caught covering the puck in the crease.

The recently acquired Aiden Wright started his Phantoms tenure off in dominating fashion. After being traded to Youngstown earlier in the week, Wright stopped 24 of the 25 shots sent his way.

"He looked poised. He has a little bite to him, which I love," Ward said. "He did a great job. The guys like him and he works hard in practice."

"The crowd was awesome. They definitely fed into the game and helped us get the (win)," Wright added.

The Phantoms will travel to Michigan to take on the U18s next Thursday before returning home the following day to kick off a two-game set against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Puck drop for both games against Cedar Rapids is slated for 7:05 at the Covelli Centre February 2-3.
 
 
By the Numbers
Shots – 39
Saves – 24
Power Play – 0/2
Penalty Kill – 3/3
Goals – Botterill, Jencko (2), Pietila, Ramos
Assists – Burchill, Cerrato, McLaughlin, Ranallo, Rucinski, Smith