Men's Ice Hockey 10/15/2023 4:52:00 AM

MONTGOMERY SCORES TWICE, STARS TOP PHANTOMS

THREE-GOAL SECOND SPURS WIN

The Lincoln Stars scored three times in the second period and defeated the Youngstown Phantoms, 4-1, on Saturday night at the Ice Box.

Blake Montgomery scored his first USHL goal in the second period and then added another in the third to record the Stars' first multi-goal game of the season. Lincoln also scored more than three goals in a game for the first time with Saturday's win.

Montgomery cashed in all alone on a breakaway after a breakout pass by Mason Kesselring at the 9:34 mark of the third and then banked home a rebound after Jack Pechar's shot hit the post and ricocheted to Montgomery at the 10:17 mark of the third.

"Especially after all those chances (in the first few games) to get the monkey off my back, especially at home, it was awesome," Montgomery said. "Everyone erupting after I put it in, nothing like that. First time experiencing something like that. It felt really good."

Lincoln (3-3-0-0) improved to 3-0 this season after losses and turned the tables from the night before. For the second straight night the two teams entered the first intermission scoreless but on Saturday it was the Stars who scored three times in the second period after Youngstown (4-3-0-0) scored three times in the second on Friday night.

Jared Mangan got the scoring started by forcing a turnover from atop the left-wing circle, driving to the net and scoring on the backhand at the 4:29 of the second period. The Clarkson commit leads the Stars with three goals through the first six games.

Another odd-man rush led to a Stars goal when Max Ferkodic scored his first USHL goal at the 11:03 mark of the second to mark the Stars' third and final goal of the period.

Yan Shostak stopped 34-of-35 shots to earn his third victory in four games. He stopped all 12 shots faced in a first period in which Youngstown picked up where it left off from the night before in terms of scoring chances.

"I think more than anything Yan radiates confidence," Stars' goaltending and assistant coach Artt Brey said. "He is a very confident person, very confident individual. When we see him making saves, we see him doing what he does. Guys just get to feed off that."

The Phantoms broke up the shutout bid at the 2:43 mark of the third but that was all that they would get as their four-game winning streak came to an end.

Lincoln plays its first two true road games next weekend as it travels to Waterloo on Friday and then faces Sioux City on Saturday. Beginning with the matchup against the Black Hawks the Stars' next five games will all be on the road.

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