By Michael Heilman

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms returned to the PPL Center to begin game one of two against the Charlotte Checkers. Alex Lyon started at goal, and the scratches for the game were James de Haas, Gerry Fitzgerald, Kurtis Gabriel, and Chris Stewart.

The Checkers jumped to an early 1-0 lead three minutes and twenty-two seconds in the first period as Jake Bean (9) skated around David Kase to score the goal. Roland McKeown (18) and Morgan Geekie (3) assisted Bean’s goal.

The Phantoms responded six minutes later on the faceoff when David Kase (11) sent the puck to Cal O’Reilly for the tip-in goal to tie the game 1-1. Less than five minutes later, Nate Prosser (8) made a crossing pass to Morgan Frost (14), who found Andy Andreoff (9) all alone. Andreoff then buried the shot to put the Phantoms in the lead 2-1. The game remained 2-1 as the first period ended with the shots even at nine apiece.

Fans witnessed a crazy play in the second period as the Phantoms were called for a delayed penalty only to see Checkers left-winger Max McCormick make a backhand pass that went in for a goal as the Checkers were pulling goaltender Mike Condon. The goal was given to Maksim Sushko (11), and the Phantoms had a two-goal lead 3-1. The Phantoms remained in the lead 3-1 as the second period ended. The shots were twelve to nine for the Checkers. Each team committed two penalties in the second period. The Phantoms were going into the third period with over a minute left on the power play.

The Checkers cut the Phantoms lead 3-2 a minute and forty-eight seconds into the third period as Joey Keane (24) made a pass to Jake Bean (34) to take the shot while Mark Cooper (1) tipped the puck in the net for the goal.

A holding call against Phantoms forward Mikhail Vorobyev put the Checkers on the power-play. The penalty did not stop the Phantoms from putting points on the board as Mark Friedman (13) shot the puck to bank off of the glass in front of Isaac Ratcliffe (8), who passed the puck to Connor Bunnaman (5) for the short-hand goal to extend the Phantoms lead 4-2. Just as the Phantoms had a cushion, the Checkers came right back twenty-two seconds later when Clark Bishop (11) found Joey Keane (25) for the shot that was tipped in by Max McCormick (15) for a one-goal game 4-3 with three minutes and forty-five seconds left in the third period.

The Checkers pulled goaltender Mike Condon for the extra attacker with less than three minutes left in the game; however, the Phantoms were able to put the game away on an empty-net goal from Connor Bunnaman (6), his second of the game. Morgan Frost (14) and Mark Friedman (23) assisted Bunnaman’s goal as the Phantoms defeated the Charlotte Checkers 5-3. The shots were ten to six for the Checkers. Each team committed two penalties in the third period.

The shots for the game were thirty-two to twenty for the Checkers. The Phantoms were zero for three on the power-play while the Checkers went one for three. Phantoms goaltender Alex Lyon played a good game going twenty-nine of thirty-two saves allowing three goals. Charlotte Checkers goaltender Mike Condon went fifteen of nineteen saves allowing four goals.

The three stars of the game were Phantoms center Cal O’Reilly with one goal, Phantoms left-winger Andy Andreoff with one goal, and Phantoms forward Connor Bunnaman with two goals. Both of these teams will square off again from the PPL Center for the game two Saturday at 7:05 pm.

(player stats for the year)