Black Hawks Start Weekend With Win

The Waterloo Black Hawks scored four times, and the Youngstown Phantoms gave them another goal Friday during a 5-3 decision at Young Arena.

Having already rallied on two late third period scores, the Phantoms were seeking an equalizer with under a minute to play. With an extra attacker on the ice and the net empty, a miscued puck landed outside the offensive zone, rolling all the way from the red line into the open net. Kevin Charyszyn was credited with the marker which sealed Waterloo’s win. It was the third goal the Hawks recorded during the final minute of a period.

The Phantoms had scored early in the opening period, but the Hawks scored late – and more. The opening goal came just 1:57 into the action when the puck came free from behind the Waterloo net. Brett Murray was left with an open side and knocked it in from just outside the crease.

Waterloo answered with two goals shortly before intermission within the span of 1:11. At 18:21, Yuki Miura and Emil Ohrvall came up the ice together, with Miura cutting across the high slot and scoring on a low shot from the right circle. Nick Swaney followed up at 19:32; after being knocked down in the right corner, Shane Bowers recovered the puck, handing it back to his linemate. Swaney came from behind the net to score from the bottom of the left wing circle, flipping it into the long-side top corner.

The Hawks added two more during the second. At 10:20, Shane Bowers snuck behind the Phantoms defense and cut from the right circle across the low slot. With Darion Hanson down, Bowers didn’t miss the target he was presented with. Then during a four-on-four sequence with 37.4 seconds remaining, Chase Pilawski dodged a check above the left circle and blasted a low slap shot past Ivan Kulbakov, who had entered the game in relief following the third Waterloo tally.

The Youngstown rally was the product of power play offense. Nicolas Werbik scored from the left wing circle at 14:09. Austin Pooley followed up at 15:26 from the high slot during a five-on-three advantage.

The same teams meet Saturday for an instant rematch at Young Arena. The Hawks will offer $8 tickets for all college students with ID, and everyone is welcome to help The Salvation Army kick off their 2016 Red Kettle Campaign. For tickets, call the Domino’s Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680.