The West Michigan Phantoms rolled to an impressive 2-0 mark during the post- season on Sunday, as the Phantoms cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Rebels. It took only a single strike 6:31 into the game for the Phantoms to achieve the game-winner and surprisingly enough that game winner would come off the stick of Darren Skuse. The lone Skuse strike early in the contest would be enough, as a rock-solid goaltending of the Phantoms Kevin Wootton would seal the door in a 29 shot shut-out for the Phantoms. The Phantoms would continue to pound away at the Rebels as the Phantoms were attempting to capture revenge against the Rebels who stole a 6-3 decision against the Phantoms during the recent April 20th clash. The Phantoms would capture two more goals during the opening period, as Jason Schemmel would tally a pair of goals to close out the opening period with the Phantoms on-top 3-0. The second period would continue to see the Men of Phantom Nation play an outstanding game as the team would combine for another trio of goals to rocket into a 6-0 lead after two. In that second period the Phantoms would receive strikes from Brent Vandonkelaar (assists to Tim Vanoverlopp and Jason Schemmel), Steve Downing (assist to Keith Mooreman) and Jason Schemmel would complete the hat-trick with an unassisted goal with just 1:22 remaining in the period. In the third period the Rebels would play their best of the night as the Orange shirts riffled 10 shots towards the Phantom netminder, several of which would glorious chances in which the Phantoms crease police had to sprout rubber limbs on demand. In the third period the Rebels would be assisted by two Phantom penalties in which helped the Rebels mount their continuous pressure during the period. However, the Phantom offense would continue to add to the scoreboard with a pair of goals just 1:04 apart to springboard the Phantom crew to an 8-0 lead. Despite a very close call late in the game in which Jason Schemmel inadvertently directed the puck right toward his own goal, the goaltending acrobatics of Wootton would be counted on again as the netminder was forced to make a Derek Jeter-like-save. The victory by the Phantoms improved the teams overall record to 6-4-2 on the season. In doing so the Phantoms would capture their second shut-out of the season. On the game, the Phantoms were surprisingly out shot by the Rebels 29-28. The Phantoms were ticketed for two penalties for four minutes, while the Rebels were inflicted with four penalties for eight minutes. The team played without the services of Brett Smith and Patrick Ewerth who were both unavailable due to work conflicts. The Phantoms will return to action on June 8th to continue the teams quest for the Toilet Bowl Cup.
