The West Michigan Phantoms removed the spider-webs from their sticks and polished off the rust from their skates on Sunday, as the Phantoms returned to the Cedar Rock Sports Plex for the first time in 28 days. With the holidays in the past and power restored to the rink, the Men of Phantom Nation embarked on their quest to not only truncate their current two-game losing skid, but to capture their first victory in the teams first game of 2009. On Sunday, the Phantoms used a lethal mix of three second-period goals, combined with a pair of goals in the third period to rally ahead of Black & Gold and seal a 6-4 victory. While the victory does not only bring the Phantoms season record to an even plateau of 2-2, it increased the Phantom All-Time win total to 199 games. In now the teams 24th season, the franchise that continues to operate as the longest operating in-line team in West Michigan , is just a single W away from capturing victory 200. The rust from the lack of Phantom play the last 28 days would be apparent right from the start of the game on Sunday, as Black & Gold would crack the score sheet first, just 4:51 into the contest. Less than 1:30 later, the Phantoms would continue to experience some short-circuit issues as Black & Gold would capitalize on a combined error between a Phantom defenseman and the Phantom goaltender, which would yield the second straight goal by Black & Gold within minutes, giving them a 2-0 lead. The Phantoms would manage to break the seal 31 seconds following the Black & Gold strike, as Brad Zehr would set up Tim Czycyk with 9:22 remaining in the opening period to put the Phantoms on the board. However, the breaks and the bounces would just not fall into the Phantoms lap during the opening period, as the scoreboard would continue to shift in a downward spiral for the Phantom kids. With the Phantoms Keith Mooreman getting tagged with a two-minute minor for hooking, Black & Gold would waste just 13 seconds of powerplay time before a shot from the point would deflect off a Phantom defensemens skate and into the Phantom goal. Following the end of the opening period, the Phantoms who managed to be out-shot by Black & Gold 8-7, would trail 3-1. In the middle stanza, the Phantoms rust would appear to break off. Just 47 seconds into the period, Jason Schemmel would direct the puck to Brad Zehr near the boards to the right of the Black & Gold cage. Brad would wait and then send what appeared to be an innocent looking shot on goal, that shot would trickle across the goal line trimming the Black & Gold lead to 3-2. Despite the Phantoms beginning ticketed with two penalties in the second period, including one for too many men on the ice, the Phantom defense and netminder would fend off Black & Golds offensive strides. The Good Ole Boys would deadlock the contest with 3:26 remaining in the period, as Chuck McCloud would net the game tying strike for the Phantoms. With just seconds remaining in the period, Phantom netminder Kevin Wootton would direct the puck up the Phantom right-wing boards to Tim Czycyk. Tim would rocket a shot from the slot towards the Black & Gold netminder, who would yield a high-rising rebound to his glove side. As if ESPN and other national sport television networks were in the building, the Phantoms Jason Schemmel would score what very well could go down as the best goal in the Bronze league this season. The Phantom offensemen, who has played six seasons with the club, would line up his stick and unleash a powerful swing, batting the puck out of mid-air in a way that the former Harry Carey would best describe as Holy Cow!. The powerful swing would be perfect, as the puck would rocket into the net, giving the Phantoms their first lead of the night with just 8 seconds left in the second period. The Phantoms would continue to add to their lead in the third period, as Jason Schemmel (assisted by Tim Czycyk) would increase the lead to 5-3 a mere 5:22 into the third period. The Phantoms would register their sixth straight goal of the contest with 8:03 remaining in regulation as Jason Schemmel would complete the hat-trick, giving the Phantoms a 6-3 lead. Several minutes later, Black & Gold would make their last stand, as the cellar dwellers would knock home their fourth of the night completing the games scoring with the Phantoms on top 6-4. On the contest, the Phantoms out shot Black & Gold 22-14. On the Nautys Penalty Minute Board, the Phantoms would be banished on 4 minors, including a too many men on the ice call, for eight total minutes, while Black & Gold would be sent to the box with just a single minor for 2 minutes. This game would mark the first time this season that the Phantoms would skate with a full 10-man roster. As mentioned, the victory draws the teams overall record to an even 2-2. The team remains just a single victory away from franchise victory #200. That notch in Phantom history could be accomplished on Sunday, January 18th when the team returns to action.
