Published: Monday, March 5, 2007
Phantoms win, 6-4, clinch division title
The Phantoms have nine games left and will try for the league's best record.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN — With a 6-4 victory over the Marquette Rangers Sunday afternoon, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms clinched the North American Hockey League's North Division title.
With nine regular season games remaining (the last seven are at home), their goal now is to post the league's best overall mark.
Dustin Cloutier scored twice to cap off a five-goal, six-point weekend, as the Phantoms took the final two games of their three-game set with the Rangers.
"We knew that this would be a tough series with Marquette and they gave us everything that we could handle this weekend. They changed coaches after the season had started and since coming on board, new head coach Randy Enders has made them very competitive," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said.
The game didn't start out the way the Phantoms hoped as Marquette's Neeco Belanger scored a shorthanded, unassisted goal at 12:17.
Nic Weight added his 22nd goal of the season at 18:32 of the opening period to give Marquette a 2-0 lead.
Cloutier counters
Cloutier, who has been on a tear of late and a mark of consistency for the Phantoms all season, notched the first of his two scores at 4:36 of the second period, a shorthanded one, cutting Marquette's lead to 2-1.
Ex-Phantom Bret Larson tallied his second goal of the year for the Rangers at 6:40 to give Marquette a 3-1 lead, but a power play goal by Cloutier (15:24) and Matt Quigley's 20th goal at 18:18 helped the Phantoms forge a 3-all tie heading to the second intermission.
Trent Bonnet's unassisted goal at 7:03 of the final period then gave the Phantoms a lead they would not relinquish.
"Our goal at the beginning of training camp was to win our division and we realized that goal tonight. This weekend, we found out that we cannot relax because anyone can beat you at anytime in this league," Bonnet said.
Fairbanks creates 5-3 lead
Chris Fairbanks' power play goal at 12:45 increased the Phantoms' lead to 5-3 but Belanger added his second unassisted goal of the game at 16:25 to make it 5-4.
Mike Fillinger rounded out the scoring with an empty net tally with one second remaining.
"We worked really hard all year so this win tonight is a most rewarding one for us. With just a handful of regular season games left we cannot get complacent. We'll work any bugs out that we have to work out and then look toward the post-season," Fairbanks said.
The Phantoms held a 43-35 shots edge for the game and allowed Marquette only six shots in the third period.
The Phantoms (41-11-1, 83 points) lead the St. Louis Bandits (38-12-3, 79 points) of the South Division for the NAHL's best record.
The Phantoms make their final road trip of the season, visiting Alpena Friday and Saturday. They conclude the regular season with a seven-game homestand beginning March 16.
Monday, March 5, 2007
The Phantoms have nine games left and will try for the league's best record.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN — With a 6-4 victory over the Marquette Rangers Sunday afternoon, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms clinched the North American Hockey League's North Division title.
With nine regular season games remaining (the last seven are at home), their goal now is to post the league's best overall mark.
Dustin Cloutier scored twice to cap off a five-goal, six-point weekend, as the Phantoms took the final two games of their three-game set with the Rangers.
"We knew that this would be a tough series with Marquette and they gave us everything that we could handle this weekend. They changed coaches after the season had started and since coming on board, new head coach Randy Enders has made them very competitive," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said.
The game didn't start out the way the Phantoms hoped as Marquette's Neeco Belanger scored a shorthanded, unassisted goal at 12:17.
Nic Weight added his 22nd goal of the season at 18:32 of the opening period to give Marquette a 2-0 lead.
Cloutier counters
Cloutier, who has been on a tear of late and a mark of consistency for the Phantoms all season, notched the first of his two scores at 4:36 of the second period, a shorthanded one, cutting Marquette's lead to 2-1.
Ex-Phantom Bret Larson tallied his second goal of the year for the Rangers at 6:40 to give Marquette a 3-1 lead, but a power play goal by Cloutier (15:24) and Matt Quigley's 20th goal at 18:18 helped the Phantoms forge a 3-all tie heading to the second intermission.
Trent Bonnet's unassisted goal at 7:03 of the final period then gave the Phantoms a lead they would not relinquish.
"Our goal at the beginning of training camp was to win our division and we realized that goal tonight. This weekend, we found out that we cannot relax because anyone can beat you at anytime in this league," Bonnet said.
Fairbanks creates 5-3 lead
Chris Fairbanks' power play goal at 12:45 increased the Phantoms' lead to 5-3 but Belanger added his second unassisted goal of the game at 16:25 to make it 5-4.
Mike Fillinger rounded out the scoring with an empty net tally with one second remaining.
"We worked really hard all year so this win tonight is a most rewarding one for us. With just a handful of regular season games left we cannot get complacent. We'll work any bugs out that we have to work out and then look toward the post-season," Fairbanks said.
The Phantoms held a 43-35 shots edge for the game and allowed Marquette only six shots in the third period.
The Phantoms (41-11-1, 83 points) lead the St. Louis Bandits (38-12-3, 79 points) of the South Division for the NAHL's best record.
The Phantoms make their final road trip of the season, visiting Alpena Friday and Saturday. They conclude the regular season with a seven-game homestand beginning March 16.
Monday, March 5, 2007
With a 6-4 victory over the Marquette Rangers Sunday afternoon, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms clinched the North American...
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