MUSKEGON, MI – Some days you win, other days you learn. Fitting for a school day game to be one of the latter, and there's no love lost between when it comes to games between the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Youngstown Phantoms,
After
Melvin Novotny (Stockholm, SWE) was called for tripping at 12:52 of the first period, Cooper Simpson would score 22 seconds into the man advantage to put the Phantoms on the board first with a precision shot from the faceoff circle.
Simpson would add a nearly identical goal 6:54 into the middle frame, this time at even strength. Exactly seven minutes later, Phantoms net minder Tobias Trejbal would leave the crease and connect with Simpson, who would slingshot a pass to Ryan Rucinski for Youngstown's second power-play tally of the day. His 16th of the season, Rucinski now holds the Phantoms' record for power-play goals in a single season, with Trejbal's assist setting a Youngstown record for assists by a goalie.
The Lumberjacks would come out for the third period looking to get momentum on their side, but Youngstown's Jakub Heš would redirect an Alexander Svitov shot at the 11:56 mark to put the home team up 4-0. Just under three minutes later, Lumberjacks defenseman
Nathan Larioza (Los Gatos, CA) would fire home the first goal of his USHL career to break Trejbal's shutout bid. With the secondary assist on the goal,
Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN) reached 100 career points (47G-53A-100PTS).
In the final minute of play, Lenny Boos would hit the empty net, sealing a 5-1 victory as Youngstown would hold off Muskegon at home. Trejbal would pick up the win with 22 saves on 23 shots and one assist, while
Carl Axelsson (Danderyd, SWE) (23-10-0-0) would finish the game with 15 saves on 19 shots against.
The Lumberjacks are on the road against the Omaha Lancers for the upcoming weekend, with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop on Saturday night anda 6:05 p.m. puck drop on Sunday.
Tickets for upcoming home games are available at muskegonlumberjacks.com or by calling 231-799-700, starting at just $15. Can't get to the game? Catch the action on the official live stream partner of the Muskegon Lumberjacks, FloHockey, and for free on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.
