The defending Bronze champions returned to the lights of Cedar Rock on Sunday, supporting an entirely different roster.  The off-season was a busy one for the Phantoms, as several of last seasons members either received the call-up to the Silver team or decided they could not play due to various reasons.  With the will and desire by many to keep playing at Cedar Rock, the team forged ahead and brought in several new players for this Spring 2009 season.  Even before the game began, offense was an issue that was foremost on the minds of the returning Phantoms this season.  With so many new faces wearing the yellow this season, it will take time to develop this team.  Kind of ironic, since all three of the previous Phantom bronze team started off slow and built to become really strong by seasons end.  On Sunday, the Phantoms took to the rink against the Roman Empire team, which was known as the Sawbones in the past.  The Phantoms would open the scoring mid-way into the period, as Mike Padget would set up Matt Mead on the point and the Phantoms would march into a 1-0 lead.

Just over a minute later, the Roman Empire would come right back and capitalize to tie the contest at 1-1.  Late in the opening period with less than a minute remaining, the Roman Empire would seize their first lead of the night at 2-1 and take a 2-1 lead into the intermission.  In the middle stanza, the Roman Empire would tally a powerplay strike as a shot from the point would reach an Empire player stationed in front of the net and with the Phantom netminder slightly out of position, the Roman Empire forward would tip the puck into the net for a 3-1 lead.  For the balance of the second period, the offense of both teams would be silenced.  Though two periods of the play, the Roman Empire held a 21-16 shot advantage over the Phantoms.  In the third period, the game would continue to be a defensive duel until the final two minutes of the contest.  With just 1:42 remaining in the period, the Phantoms Jared Yax would strike with an unassisted tally to bring the Phantoms back into contention at 2-3.  Despite two efforts of pulling the Phantom goaltender to gain the extra attacker in a bid to achieve the equalizer, the Phantom offense would not be able to penetrate the Roman Empire goal again and the Roman Empire would take claim to a 3-2 victory over the Phantoms.  On the game, the Roman Empire out shot the Phantoms 30-26.  On the Nautys penalty minute board, the Phantoms were ticketed with two minors for four minutes, while the Roman Empire were ticketed on a single infraction for two minutes.  The Phantoms will return to Cedar Rock next Sunday against a different Bronze opponent.