Despite trailing by two goals early in the second period, the West Michigan Phantoms cranked up the intensity and scored three goals in the second period to climb into a 4-3 lead, a lead that they were able to hang onto to earn a 5-3 decision over Roman Empire on Sunday night. In a game that featured end to end action, several weird bounces of the puck and some rather physical contact, Roman Empire would open the scoring late in the first period with just 1:48 remaining. However, 50 seconds later the Phantom's Chuck McCloud was able to penetrate Jeff Pacific in the Empire goal to even the duel at 1-1. Both the Phantoms and Roman Empire and the Phantoms would enter the first intermission deadlocked at 1-1 with the Phantom's out shooting their opposition 12-9. In the second period, the Roman Empire would come out flying and take full advantage of the Phantom netminder's inability to control his rebounds. Two Empire goals in the span of 1:48 would create excitement on the Empire bench and cast a shadowy image towards the Phantom's bench as Roman Empire would rocket into a 3-1 lead just three minutes into the second period. The Phantoms would take a few minutes to settle down and use a Roman Empire delay of game penalty to begin the charge back into the contest. On the powerplay, Tim Vanoverloop would blast a bullet toward the Roman Empire cage and the Phantom's unlikely hero Darren Skuse would hack and whack at the puck until the puck would inch across the goal line just before the referee would blow the whistle. Skuse's second goal of the season (assisted by Tim Vanoverloop) would narrow the contest and bring the Phantoms to within one. The charge by the Phantoms would continue, as perfect puck handling combined with great speed would keep Roman Empire on the Phantom's heals. Trent Kik would give the Phantom's the equalizer 3:33 later, as Tim Czycyk and Brian Doctor would set-up Kik for his seventh goal of the season. Late in the second period, the Phantom's would jump into their first lead of the night. Muskegon native Justin Calkins would set up Brian Doctor on the point and the Mona Shores grad would unleash a Sailor splinter past Pacific for his first goal of the season and a 4-3 Phantom lead to close out the second period. The Phantoms continued to hold a slim shot advantage over the white shirts in the second period, 8-7. The third period would continue to see back and fourth action create numerous scoring chances on both sides. After a second period in which five goals were scored combined, the goaltenders would settle down and rely on much needed support by their defensemen to shut-down the offense. With 51 seconds remaining in the third period, Trent Kik would be sent to the ground on a blatant tripping infraction in front of the Phantom bench. The tripping penalty would ultimately ruin any chance for the Roman Empire to achieve the equalizer. With the Empire goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, Trent Kik would put the icing on the cake as Kik would capture the empty net goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game to give the Phantom's a 5-3 victory and overtake Tim Czycyk as the team's top goal producer. The victory improves the Phantom's to a 5-1 record, which is a league best. On the game, the Phantoms outshot Roman Empire 29-26. On the 96KBPS Internet Radio's Crime Watch, the Phantoms were ticketed with two minors for four minutes, while Roman Empire was ticket with two minors and a 10-minute misconduct for 14 minutes. The Phantoms will return to action on October 25th to take on the much improved Hawks. Game time is set for 6:00pm.