Squirt Bats shut out Phantoms

The Amherst Pepsi Center was the scene for a thriller as the Ice Bats and Phantoms squared off before an exuberant crowd. Both teams did not disappoint their fans as this tug of war match-up had the Bats defeat the Phantoms, 1-0.

The first period had many close calls as each team skated to their opponents’ net. Matthew Goss of the Phantoms was tested early and often but gave no ground. The Bats’ Ryan Ruggiero returned the favor, shutting down the Phantoms to end the period with no score.

The second period proved to be just as intense as the first as each team had a pair of penalties to kill throughout the period. The Bats’ Adam Herman, Tyler Stanfield, Joe Philipps, and Gabriel Gomez all were key in killing off penalties. The Phantoms’ Chris Comtois, Matthew Tripi, Adam Arsenault, and Josh Wrest helped keep the Bats at bay while killing penalties.

Halfway through the period, the Bats’ Jake Berke broke down the right side and fired a hard shot at Goss, who made the initial save when Alex Touma slapped at the rebound. Goss knocked the rebound away again when finally Gabe Feuerstein buried the loose puck for the only goal of the game.

The third period had the fans on the edge of their seats as each team brought their ‘A’ games both on offense and defense. The Phantoms’ Tyler Casselman and Lauton Rushford had numerous rushes into the Bats zone only to be foiled by great team defense and solid goalkeeping. The Bats’ Brian Bookbinder and Sam Berke were unrelenting in the Phantoms end but were stymied by the splendid defensive effort from the Phantoms.

During the waning seconds of the game, the Phantoms were deep in the Bats zone, throwing everything they had at them when Amir Gulati iced the game, knocking the loose puck out of the Bats’ zone as time expired.

The Bats’ Ryan Higgins, Tom Garrity, Jason Raimondi, Mitch Miller, Scott Stone, and Adam Herman proved to be just too much for the Phantoms and were key in Ruggiero’s first shutout of the year. The Phantoms’ Adam Herr, Angelo Derossi, Matthew Soos, Tristan Dougherty, Heather Casselman, Michael Heyden, Antonio Zendano, Johnathan Kurtz, Charles Carlino, and Tommy Roesch were all nothing short of spectacular.