The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are headed to another Game Five in the 2009 Robertson Cup Playoffs following a 3-1 U.S. National Team win in Game Four of the North Division Finals on Friday.
It is the Phantoms’ second Game Five appearance this postseason; they won Game Five of the divisional semifinals over the Traverse City North Stars 2-1 to advance to the second round on April 12th.
Team USA goalie Brandon Maxwell bounced back from a disappointing start in Thursday’s Game Three to turn aside 27 of 28 Phantom shots and record his fifth win of the postseason.
The Nationals opened the scoring with 7:16 remaining in the first period when Luke Moffatt stole a Mahoning Valley clearing attempt and fed Michael Mersch in front of Phantoms netminder Jordan Tibbett for a one-time goal to put USA up 1-0.
Mahoning Valley responded three minutes later when Stefan Salituro’s centering feed bounced off Maxwell and into the Team USA net to tie the game at 1-1 with 3:39 remaining in the opening frame.
The game would stay tied until the 11:29 mark of the second period when Mersch struck for his second of the night, slapping a Justin Faulk pass past a screened-out Tibbett for a 2-1 Nationals edge.
The Phantoms pressed hard for the equalizer over the final 28 minutes of the game, outshooting Team USA by a margin of 14-7 following Mersch’s second tally, but were unable to solve Maxwell, whom they had touched up for four goals on Thursday.
Austin Czarnik capped the scoring with 1:27 left when he stole the puck from Tibbett behind the Phantoms’ net and flipped the puck off the goalie’s back and into the net for the final margin of 3-1.
Tibbett finished the night with 18 saves but saw his playoff record slip to 4-3 in 2009
Friday’s game marked the final Phantoms game at the Chevrolet Centre for the 2008-2009 season; Mahoning Valley finished 17-5-2 in 24 home dates at the downtown arena.
The decisive fifth game of the North Finals will be Saturday at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube at 7:00 PM. The winner will advance to the Robertson Cup Tournament in Mason City, IA.
The North Division champion will face the winner of the Central Division on Tuesday at 4:00 PM to open the 2009 installment of USA Hockey’s Tier II National Tournament.
Courtesy: Mahoning Valley Phantoms
