The Phantom's Quest to 'Repeat the Feat' is on. For the fourth time in the team's six season Cedar Rock history, the West Michigan Phantoms will return to the Silver Division finals in hopes of capturing the team's third Cedar Rock championship and the fifth in the team's 23 season history. On Sunday, the Phantoms tallied six goals in a must-win contest against the Missiles to secure a 6-3 victory and secure a trip to the championship game. The victory improved the team's post-season record to 2-1 and for the second time in two seasons, the Phantoms will tangle with Howie's for the Silver Championship. The Phantoms waited until the tail end of the opening period to get on the board as Scott Vandonkelaar set-up Chris Benedict with 4:16 remaining in the opening stanza to give the Yellow Shirts a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Gordie Anderson would give his team some insurance as Anderson would light the lamp for his fourth of the season (assisted by Casey Rosenberg and Scott Vandonkelaar) to put the defending champions on top 2-0. Roughly five minutes later, the Phantom Captain (Chris Benedict) would strike with his second of the night (assisted by Casey Rosenberg) to increase the Phantom lead to three goals. Following the opening 32 minutes (two-periods) of hockey, the Phantoms held a 19-17 shot advantage over the Missiles. With a single period separating the Phantoms from the 'Big Game', the team dug in and kept their eyes on the prize. However, early in the third period the Phantom's Trent Kik would be sent to the sin-bin on a roughing infraction. That power-play opportunity by the Missiles would take only 24 seconds to convert, as the Missiles were able to halt the back-to-back shut-out bid by the Phantom netminder and narrowed the contest to a 3-1 Phantom lead. That two goal lead would grow back to three as Chris Benedict would complete the hat-trick 46 seconds following the Missile strike to increase the Yellow Shirt lead to 4-1. Just shy of the seven minute mark of the third period, the Phantom's Trent Kik would again be sent to the penalty box on yet another roughing infraction. This would create the Missiles third power-play of the game, but it would not go as well as their previous attempt. With the puck deep inside the Phantom zone, the Missiles would shoot the puck off the backside of the net where the Phantom netminder would direct it towards Phantom defenseman Scott Vandonkelaar in the corner. Vandonkelaar would forward the black biscuit to fellow teammate Casey Rosenberg, who would re-direct it back to Vandonkelaar. The GVSU student would then launch the puck up the boards to the awaiting Chris Benedict. Chris Benedict would cut through the middle of the rink, splitting the Missile defense. The former head coach of Old Dominion University would then charge towards the Missile goal were he would simply drop the puck behind himself and complete a 'spin o rama', following by a Top Shelf Bazooka Blast that would rocket over the glove of the Missile netminder and into the back of the net. The highlight goal would give the Phantom's a huge 5-1 lead, but more importantly that goal would tie Chris Benedict for the franchise record for most points in a season at 51. The fourth goal by Benedict in this game, would give him four points on the night, giving him a total of 51 points on the season, which ties him for the record which was set last season by none other than Chris Benedict. The Phantoms would continue to keep their molten hot sticks a blaze as Scott Vandonkelaar would tally his third point of the night (first goal), to increase the lead to a commanding 6-1 Phantom advantage. The Missiles would not back down. With 4:17 remaining in the game, the Missiles would capitalize on traffic in front of the Phantom goal as the Missiles struck with their second of the night to climb back within four. As the final seconds began to tick-off on the scoreboard, the Missiles would again capitalize on a point-blank opportunity in which a Missile forward was wide open in front of the Phantom goal. The Missile strike would occur with 5 seconds remaining in the contest and completed a rather excellent period for the underdog Missile team in which they out shot the Phantoms 13-7 in the final stanza. Nonetheless, the Phantoms were able to hold off elimination and advance to the final game of the season in which the team hopes to 'Repeat the Feat' and bring a trophy to the Official Sponsor of Phantom Hockey, Nauty's Bar and Grille. On the game, the Missiles out shot the Phantoms 30-26. On the Nauty's Penalty Minute Board, the Phantoms were ticketed with four minors for eight minutes, while the Missiles were ticketed with two minors for six minutes. The Phantoms will return for the final game of this Summer 2008 season on Sunday. It will be the Silver Division Championship game and as always, plenty of great choice seats will be available for this exciting clash. For more information on Phantom Play-off Series 'D' Tickets, please contact a Phantom Ticket Representative.
