BOX SCORE

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO – The Youngstown Phantoms (25-7-2-1, 53pts) started slow, but bounced back for a season-high offensive output as they downed Team USA 8-3 Wednesday night at the Covelli Centre.

"We played a bad first period, but the second and third were much better," said Phantoms Head Coach Ryan Ward. "We executed some stuff; special teams were good again. It was a good game."

The Phantoms found themselves down 1-0 before the game was a minute old when Easton Johnson's changeup towards the cage found its way behind Owen Lepak on the game's first shot. Jakub Heš knotted things up with a shorthanded goal at 6:59, spinning off his defenseman at the edge of the blue paint and lifting a forehander past Nate Chizik. Team USA answered right back when Nolan Fitzhenry snapped a wrister past a screened Lepak two seconds after the same power play ended, returning the lead to the U17s. Kazumo Sasaki evened things up at 10:18 as he was left alone in the right circle and fired a wrister off the left post and in for his fifth goal of the season. Braden Guolla and Richard Žemlicka both earned their first USHL points on the play.

Youngstown grabbed the lead for good at 1:07 of the second when Heš' faceoff win was wristed home by Carter Murphy for a power play goal. Murphy extended his scoring streak to six games with the tally. Heš earned his third point of the night just over four minutes later when Žemlicka roofed a backhander to the twine from between the circles at 5:40. It was the first USHL goal for Žemlicka and ended up being the game winner. Žemlicka earned his third point of the night by starting the break that led to Logan Anderson's goal at 18:45, a snapper from the left circle that beat a down-and-out Chizik, who had been knocked down by a teammate on the play. Team USA challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld.

Team USA snapped the Phantoms' scoring run at 1:07 of the third with a 5-on-3 power play goal off the stick of Carter Meyer, who banged his shot from the right circle off Lepak's arm and in. It was the first power play goal Youngstown had allowed since December 12 against Omaha and snapped a string of 33-straight kills. Youngstown responded with a power play goal of their own when Ryan Rucinski converted from the top of the right circle at 2:44 for his 18^th of the season and league-leading 11^th on the power play. Rucinski now has 97 points in his USHL career, tying him with Sam Anas for fifth on the Phantoms' all-time list. Malachi McKinnon scored the seventh Phantoms goal of the night, tapping home a back door feed from Cooper Simpson at 12:54. Simpson's two-point night moved him to the top of the USHL scoring race with 48 points. Brayden Thompson wrapped up the scoring just before the final horn, batting home the rebound of Jackson Adams' shot with 6.5 left before the buzzer. The goal for Thompson was the first of his USHL career and the assist for Adams was his first point in the USHL as well.

Youngstown wraps up their four-game homestand Friday night against Muskegon at 7:05pm before the two teams travel to the shores of Lake Michigan to wrap up their three-in-three home-and-home series on Saturday and Sunday.

By The Numbers
Shots – 38
Saves – 22
Power Play – 2/6
Penalty Kill – 4/5
Goals – Anderson, Heš, McKinnon, Murphy, Rucinski, Sasaki, Thompson, Žemlicka
Assists – Adams, Anderson, Guolla, Hamilton, Heš (2), Sasaki, Simpson (2), Teply, Willson (2), Žemlicka (2)