The Covelli Centre was rocking and the Youngstown Phantoms were rolling, up 2-0 midway through their first ever USHL game, but the Indiana Ice surged back for six unanswered goals to overtake Youngstown 6-2 in the season opener for both teams Saturday night.Youngstown had jumped out to a quick start courtesy of first-period tallies by Joe Zarbo (5:36) and Brett Gensler (14:40), but when Sean Logue broke Phantoms goalie Jordan Tibbett’s shutout bid exactly halfway through the second, the flow of the game turned dramatically in Indiana’s favor.
A two-goal flurry by Shane Berschbach late in the middle frame gave the Ice (1-0-0) their first lead of the contest, and two goals by Antti Roppo in the third helped put the Phantoms (0-1-0) away. Frankie DeAugustine, native of nearby Burgettstown, Pa., also popped in a late goal.
Ice netminder Casey DeSmith overcame a less-than-perfect first period – he gave up two goals on just six shots – to claim the win. Zarbo, who scored the Phantoms’ final goal of the preseason last Saturday against Tri-City, netted Youngstown’s inaugural USHL marker when he whipped a snap shot over DeSmith’s glove from the top of the left circle.
Gensler pushed the decibel level even higher by tipping an Andrej Sustr wrist shot under DeSmith’s pads, but that would be the final red light of the evening for Youngstown. Logue walked off the right boards to make it 2-1, then Berschbach one-timed a power-play goal past Tibbett at 15:02 of the second to draw the Ice even.
Berschbach collected a Nic Dowd rebound and deposited the puck into the top of the Phantoms net just 3:05 later, forcing Youngstown to play from behind. Dowd got the helper on both Berschbach goals and led all players with three assists, including one on Roppo’s man-advantage tally that provided the final margin of victory.
Tibbett made 21 saves in the loss, his first start in the USHL since 2007. He played 22 games with the Omaha Lancers and Des Moines Buccaneers before starring the last two seasons for the NAHL’s Mahoning Valley Phantoms.
Courtesy: Mahoning Valley Phantoms
