The USHL has announced the 2010-11 USHL All-Star team and Phantoms defenseman Scott Mayfield and forward Cody Strang have been named Eastern Conference All-Stars.

Both Mayfield and Strang are in their final season with the Phantoms and their hard work on the ice has been recognized by the general managers and head coaches of the USHL.   Even though this is an individual accomplishment, Strang was quick to credit his teammates for this award.  “It’s a great honor,” said Strang. “It takes a lot of hard work but I have to give a lot of thanks and credit to my teammates. Without the hard work they put in on the ice we would not have been able to succeed like we have.”

 Mayfield, a first time all-star, was quick to say that this award would mean a lot less if the Phantoms do not qualify for the post season.  “It feels really good, but I know my teammates are focused on the games ahead,” said Mayfield.  “This accomplishment ranks up there with all of my other personal awards but what means the most is how well the team does.  If we do not make the playoffs, no disrespect, this award does not mean nearly as much.”

Assistant Coach Anthony Noreen gave credit to both players for the accomplishment, but like his two assistant captains, he was also quick to give credit to the entire team.  “It’s a great accomplishment for both of our guys, said Noreen.  “This is also a testament to all the guys in our locker room. What they said is exactly why they are two of our captains. It shows their leadership on and off the ice and this award just gives them the gratification for their hard work.”

For Mayfield this has been a season where the all-star award is just one of a few personal accomplishments that he has earned since this summer.  Over the summer Mayfield competed at the NHL Research, Development and Orientation Camp and back in November,  he also played for Team USA at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge.   At the Junior ‘A’ Challenge Mayfield won a gold medal and was named the tournament MVP.   With all of these accomplishments Noreen pointed out that the 6’4 defenseman has not changed one bit since he arrived in Youngstown last season.  “If you know Scottie and how humble he is this does not mean much to him,” said Noreen. “The way he comes to the rink would not change even if was not named an all-star. This is great for him and his family but since day one he has not changed who he is or what kind of player he is.”

 

The Youngstown State men’s tennis team picked up a strong 6-1 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday morning at the Boardman Tennis Center. YSU won five singles matches and won the doubles point against the Red Flash.

It was the first dual win for first-year Head Coach Mark Klysner.

YSU won the doubles point to start the morning winning at No. 2 and No. 3.

In singles, Tariq Ismail won by default over Elahn Pogque and Rob Emig dispatched of Kirby Medes 6-0, 6-0 to put YSU in front 3-0.

Max Schmerin won a hard-fought two setter 7-5, 7-6 (5) over Andres Rosa while Rodrigo Campos defeated Youlian Natchev 7-5, 6-2.

In the final match of the day, Zeeshan Ismail came back and then held off Stephen Kowalski 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a three-set victory.

The Penguins return to action on Feb. 26 when they visit Niagara.

YSU 6, Saint Francis (Pa.) 1
Feb. 20 at the Boardman Tennis Center

Singles
No. 1 – Tariq Ismail (YSU) def. Elahn Pogue 3-0 by default
No. 2 – Max Schmerin (SFU) def. Andres Rosa (YSU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 3 – Nate Fleming (SFU) def. Felipe Rosa (YSU) 5-7, 6-2, 10-3
No. 4 – Zeeshan Ismail (YSU) def. Stephen Kowalski (SFU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 – Rodrigo Campos (YSU) def. Youlian Natchev (SFU) 7-5, 6-2
No. 6 – Rob Emig (YSU) def. Kirby Mendes (SFU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles
No. 1 – T. Ismail/Rosa (YSU) lost to Pogue/ Fleming (SFU) – 8-6
No. 2 – Schmerin/Z. Ismail (YSU) def. Kowanski/Rosa (SFU) 8-6
No. 3 – Campos/Emig (YSU) def. Natchev/Mendes (SFU) 8-3

Youngstown State University gets to play in an ESPN Bracket Buster game every year.  A bracket buster is simply a game that allows the selection committee a chance to check out bubble teams against non-league opponents.  Wins and losses pretty much determine the automatic bids and YSU is probably not going to get an at-large bid.  Bowling Green of the MAC was the non-confernce opponent that the Penguins faced on Saturday.  YSU got 23 from Ashen Ward and held off Bowling Green for an 83-76 win.

“The things that the other guys were doing set up my shots”, said Ward, who added six rebounds.  “It feels really good to do all of the things we had to down the stretch and pick up the win.  To come out on the right side of a close game feels really good for us.”

In the first half, the Falcons and Penguins played pretty evenly with BG holding a 46-43 lead when the horn sounded.  Jordan Crawford had 13 and A’uston Calhoun chipped in with twelve for Bowling Green.  Youngstown State got 12 from Ward and 10 more from Vytas Sulskis. The story in the first half was Bowling Green shooting over 60% from the field and YSU shooting over 40% from three.  Unfortunately, YSU is 0-10 this season when trailing at half.

In the second half, Youngstown State, on the tenth lead change of the game, went ahead on a Damian Eargle left-handed slam.  The Penguins trailed 58-57 when Sulskis was fouled attempting a three.  The Lituanian-born Sulskis hit two of three charity tosses to put YSU ahead 59-58 with 13:31 left in the game. Torian Oglesby hit a two-handed slam with 9:57 left to put Bowling Green back in front 65-64 but Ward responded for the Penguins with 8:35 left putting YSU ahead 66-65.  Next trip up, Sulskis kicked the ball out to Ward who hit his sixth three of the game and gave the Penguins a 69-65 lead, their largest of the game, with 7:48 left to go.

Kendrick Perry, playing with a finger he jammed at practice, hit a miracle three with the shot clock winding down to increase the Penguins margin to 74-65.  Luke Kraus hit a three for Bowling Green with 4:23 left to stop a 12-0 Penguins run and cut the lead to 74-68.

Perry had a steal and a dunk to give YSU a 79-68 lead and rile the crowd.  Bowling Green then connected on two quick three-pointers Kraus to cut the big lead down to five at 79-74 with 1:34 left.  BG went into foul mode with 53 seconds left.  Perry and Eargle both missed the front ends of a one-and-one.  With 25.5 seconds left, Blake Allen hit a pair to jack the lead to

With the win, Youngstown State improved to 9-18 and continue to build positive momentum leading up to the Horizon League Tournament in March.  Bowling Green slipped to 12-15 with the loss.

YSU got 23 from Ward, 17 from Sulskis, and 15 from Eargle.  Credit the Penguins for being able to win despite poor free throw shooting down the stretch.

After the game, Jerry Slocum talked about playing well AND getting a win.  “Two factors contributed to this win.  One, we played tremendous defense in the second half and our guys did well with our matchup adjustments.  Secondly,we had a 24 assist to six turnover ratio. When you do that good of a job protecting the ball, beating the trap, and finding open guys, you should win.  Our guards had a 13-1 turnover to assist ratio.  Credit our guys for keeping their heads up after three hard losses.”

East Carolina scored six runs in the bottom of the second and got seven strong innings from preseason All-America pitcher Seth Maness to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 11-3 on Friday in the season opener for both teams.

Junior leadoff hitter David Leon gave the Penguins a 1-0 on the second pitch of the game when he homered to right field off Maness, but that’s the only baserunner the senior right-hander allowed until there were two outs in the fourth. By that time, the Pirates led 8-1.

YSU starter Phil Klein worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Pirates scoreless in the bottom of the first, but the home team scored six runs on five hits and an error in the second. Zach Wright reached on a throwing error to lead off the inning, and he scored a batter later on Chase McDonald’s double to left center. Jack Reinheimer singled in McDonald for the second run, and leadoff hitter Trent Whitehead brought in two more runs with a one-out single. Austin Homan singled in Whitehead, and McDonald drew a bases loaded walk his second time up during the inning for the final run.

After another YSU throwing error prolonged the third inning, Corey Thompson hit a two-run double to left to put the Pirates up 8-1. ECU added two more runs in the fifth off reliever Blake Aquadro.

YSU got on the board again in the eighth when Armani Johnson reached on an infield single and scored on a two-out wild pitch. East Carolina got the run back with an RBI double in the eighth, and YSU’s final run came in the ninth when Leon singled in Neil Schroth.

Maness, a preseason All-America selection by multiple media outlets, allowed just one run on Leon’s home run in seven innings. He surrendered four hits without walking a batter and struck out seven to earn the victory.

Klein suffered the loss for YSU, allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks in four innings. Aquadro allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings of relief.

Leon, who redshirted last year, went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs in his first game since the 2009 season to lead YSU. Drew Dosch, Jeremy Banks, Padraic Williams, Johnson and Schroth also had hits.

Thompson had three hits and drove in three runs to lead East Carolina.

The Penguins and Pirates will continue their three-game series on Saturday. First pitch at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium is set for 2 p.m.

The Youngstown Phantoms (16-23-4, 36pts) beat the Chicago Steel 6-0 behind an 18 save performance by Jordan Tibbett on Friday night at the Covelli Centre. The Phantoms had six players record a multiple point game and they were lead by a three point (1g,2a) performance by Stu Higgins.

The Phantoms got on the board four minutes into the game during their first power play of the night. Jiri Sekac was able to beat Chicago netminder Connor Wilson, on the glove hand side after a pass by Ty Loney found Sekac wide open on the near post. Sekac tallied his fourteenth goal of the season and Loney and Cody Strang were credited with the assists. The Phantoms would add their second goal of the opening frame, as Scott Mayfield found the back of the net over the right shoulder of Wilson to increase the Phantoms lead to two.Mayfield recorded his fifth goal of the season and Strang tallied his second assist of the game.

The Phantoms would increase their lead five minutes into the second period after Adam Berkle deked out Wilson and put a wrist shot in the net to give the Phantoms their third consecutive goal. Berkle recorded his sixth goal of the season and Stu Higgins and Nilan Nagy were credited with the assists. The Phantoms continued to dominate on the power play when Loney found the back of the net on a deflection that put the Phantoms up by four. Loney’s goal was his seventeenth of the season and Sekac tallied the assist, his second point of the game. A minute later, the Phantoms scored on their third consecutive power play as Ryan Belonger put a slap shot past Wilson right off the face off win by Higgins. Higgins was given the assist on the play giving him two points with six minutes left in the middle frame. With three power play goals, the Phantoms headed into the intermission up 5-0.

“It was uncertainty, a feeling we have not had much this season,” said Phantoms Head Coach Curtis Carr. “We have played so many close games this season and going into the last period up by five goals was something new. I was very happy the way we responded in that last period.”

The Phantoms scored their fourth power play goal of the contest at 10:48 of the third period when Higgins put a wrist shot past the blocker hand of Wilson to go up 6-0. Higgins’ goal gave him three points on the night and he was one of five other Phantoms with a multi-point game, Berkle (1g,1a), Sekac (1g,1a), Loney (1g,1a), Mayfield (1g,1a) and Strang (2a). The 18 save shutout by Tibbett was the Phantoms first of the season and their first since entering the USHL.

“We played a good, team game,” said Tibbett. “Getting the zero on the board was really the icing on the cake. I got a lot of help from my forwards and defenseman and all I had to do was make my routine saves.”

The Phantoms take on the visiting Muskegon Lumberjacks (17-18-8,42pts) tomorrow night at 7:30 at the Covelli Centre. The Phantoms and Lumberjacks will once again face off in what has become an intense rivalry this season. The Phantoms will meet the Lumberjacks for the seventh and final time this season tomorrow night. Youngstown and Muskegon have split the previous six meetings 3-3 with one of the Phantoms wins coming in overtime. Loney (4g,2a) and Jordan Young (6a) are each tied with a team leading six points against the Lumberjacks. The Lumberjacks come into tomorrow winless in their last four games.

“Tonight we learned that we can be very successful when we stick to our game plan for a full sixty minutes,” said Carr. “Even when we got up by two or three goals we stayed within the system and played our team game. Tonight can be a turning point to reinforce how important it is to play within our system.”

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are pleased to announce a bus trip ticket package to the Cleveland Indians Home Opener against the Chicago White Sox on Friday, April 1, 2011 .  The cost of the trip is $40 per person and includes the bus trip and a right field, upper level ticket to the game.

The bus leaves Eastwood Field for Cleveland at 12:00 pm with first pitch at 3:05 pm .  Seating is limited to the first 50 people.

For more information, contact the Scrappers Front Office at (330) 505-0000 or visit www.mvscrappers.com for a registration form.

Detroit went on a big run in the first half and scored 12 of the final 14 points of the game to beat the Youngstown State women’s basketball team 52-43 on Thursday evening at Calihan Hall.

Brandi Brown scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Youngstown State, which led 41-40 with 7:26 remaining. No Penguin other than Brown scored in the final 14 minutes.

Detroit shot just 33.3 percent and committed 10 more turnovers than the Penguins but held a 55-31 edge in rebounding.

Dominique Dixon came off the bench to score 12 points to lead Detroit, and she scored six straight points for the Titans as they started their final push. Britney Murphy also had 11 off the bench, and Yar Shayok grabbed 16 rebounds despite playing in foul trouble most of the night.

YSU shot 25 percent overall and 26.1 percent from 3-point range. The Penguins had just five turnovers.  The Titans went on a 17-2 run over four-and-a-half minutes in the first half as they turned a nine-point deficit into a 30-25 lead at halftime.

Detroit started 2-for-11 as YSU built a 13-4 lead. Brown scored her 10th point of the contest with 14:44 remaining to give the Guins a nine-point advantage. YSU then went without a field goal for almost five minutes, but Detroit was only able to trim the deficit down to 13-7.

Tieara Jones hit a free throw, and Brown’s jumper put the Penguins up 16-7 with 10:01 left. Detroit then went on a 17-2 run and took its first lead when Dixon hit a jumper with 3:38 left. The Titans ended up going ahead 24-18 at the 2:22 mark before Brown’s jumper off a good post move stopped the long drought.

Detroit led by as many as eight in the half before Macey Nortey hit both of her one-and-one free throws with 0.7 seconds left to make the score 30-25 at the break.  The Titans hit just five of their first 20 attempts from the field, but they closed out the half by making seven of their last eight shots.

Detroit took its largest lead of the game at 36-27 with 16:54 remaining, but the Titans did not score again for nearly nine minutes as YSU went on a 10-0 run to go up 37-36. Neither team led by more than one until Dixon ended a 12-and-a-half minute field-goal drought the Titans that put them up 44-41 with 4:19 to play.

Dixon stole a pass and hit a lay-up under Detroit’s basket to put the Titans up 46-41, and Brown hit a jumper on YSU’s next possession to end a four-and-a-half minute drought with 2:58 remaining. The Penguins did not score again, and Detroit scored the final six points.

Youngstown State will play at Wright State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. but was moved up a half hour earlier this week.

Vytas Sulskis is currently 17th on Youngstown State University’s all-time scoring list.  He will probably move up that list at least one more spot before the senior from Lithuania is finished playing college basketball this season.  Sulskis is an interesting character who said hello to just about everyone who walked by while we were getting ready for this interview, more impressively, he knew all of them by name.  You will not find a friendlier or more outgoing person who has a smile on his face and a zest for life that few can match.

Paneech: What are the biggest cultural differences between Lithuania and the United States?

Sulskis: The biggest difference is the people.  The people in America are more friendly and more willing to help you.  A host family offered their house to me in Florida for two years.  The other difference is food.  People in Lithuania have more home-cooked meals, the wife, or mother, cooks a meal every night.  Here you have so many choices and can eat whatever you want on any night.  You can grab a pizza or anything really.

Paneech: How often do you talk to the family back home?

Sulskis: I try to talk with them at least once a week on Skype.  It is a seven hour time difference and I usually have practice in the afternoon, so usually I try to talk with them on Sunday.  I got my webcam and they have theirs so I show them my room and all that. Usually, I go home once a year for the Summer, but last year I stayed to work out and be better prepared for my senior year.  They will not make it here for Senior Night, but my host family from Florida is going to come.

Paneech: You are now one of just 32 men to ever score 1,000 points at Youngstown State, you are also jetting up the scoring list and currently sit in the 17 spot.  How do you feel about being in such elite company?

Sulskis: It’s nice to accomplish something that only 32 people ever did before, it’s a nice individual accomplishment.  I think I would rather take a couple of wins instead of moving up the list.

Paneech: You and Dan Boudler have the most history with Coach Slocum, how tough is he to play for?

Sulskis: Coach Slocum is an intense coach.  He demands a lot, but he pushes people to be their best.  Off the court, he is a really good guy.  Some people walked away from this program because they thought they were going to average 20 points per game. They had one vision and Coach Slocum had other visions and stuck with his system.  We bonded better this year, and we are losing, but we are playing much better and losing closer games.  We still work hard for coach everyday in practice and no one is quitting on this season.

Paneech: You are quite active on Twitter.  How did you start with it, how many followers do you have, and are you addicted?

Sulskis: A couple of years ago when it started, I figured I would try it out and just follow rich and famous people.  Then more and more people joined and I stayed active and it is now pretty fun to go on there and mess with my teammates and give them a hard time after something funny happens.  I have 150 followers, I think?  (Laughs).  The internet is huge.

Paneech: How close are you with Dan Boudler and Ashen Ward being the only holdovers from last year that played?

Sulskis: We are really close.  Dan and I have been together since our freshman year, we were roommates.  Dan is a chill, low-key kind of guy and I am more talkative and outgoing.  Ash is a great guy and we try to hang out as much as possible and have some fun on the weekends.  Damian [Eargle] is my roommate now, he is a lot like me in the sense that he is funny and also very outgoing.  We have spent a lot of time getting to know each other and he is a really funny guy.

Paneech: How are the new guys?

Sulskis: They are a very talented bunch of players.  I don’t think we have ever had this talented of a group.  They are all really good guys too.  Kendrick Perry is from Florida, so we have something in common and we know some of the same people.  All of the other guys who transferred in from junior colleges are really cool guys too and we enjoy being around each other.

Paneech: What happens to Vytas Sulskis when this basketball season ends?

Sulskis: Well, I am trying to get my degree in Management Information Systems finished by June.  When I am done, I would like to go play basketball professionally in Europe somewhere.  I chose my major because I really liked law, but if I would have studied law here, the laws in Lithuania are very different.  I took a liking to programs that help run businesses more efficiently, so I went towards business, hoping maybe I could do something with sports management.  I know three languages and that can’t hurt me.  I am going to go back to Europe either way.

Paneech: Other than basketball, what has been your most rewarding experience in the United States?

Sulskis: I have been fortunate to meet some really good people.  I know they say that Youngstown is a bad place, but it is not a bad place. I have a lot of friends on campus, I will always remember the people from here.

One Word Answers

Favorite Fast Food Meal: The $5 Beefy Crunchwrap Box at Taco Bell.

One Word To Describe Coach Slocum: Intense.

Favorite Team To Play Against: UIC, I usually do well against them.

Favorite Toppings On A Pizza: Pineapple and Ham.

Favorite Beverage: Water.

Favorite NBA Player(s): Arvydas Sabonis and Manu Ginobili.

Song People Wouldn’t Expect To Be on Your ipod: A lot of techno.

Favorite TV Show: Jersey Shore.

Favorite Fruit: Grapes.

Animal at The Zoo That Is Most Like You: Big furry lion.

Junior Jordan Ingalls‘ two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning forced extra innings and junior Kristen Philen‘s two-out single in the bottom of the eighth lifted the Youngstown State softball team (1-2) to a 6-5 victory over Kent State on Sunday morning.

The Golden Flashes broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-3 advantage.

Senior Kristina Rendle singled down the left-field line with one out and scored on Ingalls’ first home run of the season which knotted the game at 5-5.  With the international tie-breaker rule in effect, Erin Gilmour was placed on second base as a pinch-runner and advanced to third on Samantha Snodgrass’ sacrifice bunt. Gilmour then scored the game-winning run on Philen’s infield single.

Freshman Haley Knight picked up her first win of the season tossing a scoreless eighth inning in relief of freshman Casey Crozier, who pitched seven innings and struck out three.  After Kent State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, junior Haley Thomas put the Guins ahead with a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom half of the frame.

Kent State took a 3-2 lead after plating runs in the top of the of the third and sixth innings.  Sophomore Vicky Rumph tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Rendle, Jordan Ingalls and Philen each finished the game with two hits apiece.

The Guins were also scheduled to play Elon at 3:30 p.m.

The Youngstown Phantoms (15-23-4, 34pts) were unable to win their second game is a many days as the Chicago Steel (9-25-7, 25pts) picked up the 3-2 victory. Jiri Sekac scored in his second consecutive game in the losing effort. Chicago netminder Connor Wilson stood on his head a number of times during the game, denying 26 of the Phantoms 28 shots on goal.

The Phantoms and the Steel each traded opportunities to start the first period and it took 13 minutes of hockey before the first goal was scored. Steel defenseman Peter Hand took a wrist shot from the point that beat Jordan Tibbett to put Chicago up 1-0. Hand capitalized on the screen in front of the Phantoms net for his first goal of the season. The Phantoms were 0 for 2 and the Steel were 0 for 1 with the man advantage after the first period, but Chicago held the one goal lead at the intermission

“I was pleasantly surprised with the how much energy we had coming into tonight’s game,” said Phantoms Head Coach Curtis Carr. “We have had a long week and playing last night I knew we would be a little tired. The guys came out fired up and they really played well tonight.”

The Phantoms went on an early second period power play and Phantoms defenseman Scott Mayfield took advantage on a shot from the point to tie the game at one just five minutes into the middle frame. A minute later Stu Higgins was awarded a penalty shot, the Phantoms second is as many games, but his forehand deke was denied by Chicago netminder Connor Wilson. The Phantoms would add their second power play goal of the period at the 7:26 mark as Sekac tipped in a Chris Bradley slap shot to give the Phantoms their first lead of the contest. Just over three minutes later, Steel forward Alex Kubiak took a pass from Tim Weber in the slot and found the back of the net to tie the game at two. The Phantoms would pressure the Steel late, but Wilson denied Andrew Sinelli and Danny Mattson with two big saves to send both teams into the intermission tied a two.

“We were getting a lot of chances,” said Carr. “We told the guys heading into the third period that we needed to keep doing what we were doing. I thought we controlled the tempo of play and we made sure to keep our guys composed even if the puck was not crossing the line.”

The Phantoms continued to pressure Wilson during the first half of the third period but he was up to the challenge not allowing the Phantoms the go ahead goal. At the 10:05 mark of the third, Kubiak was able to beat Tibbett on the blocker hand side for his second goal of the game. Late in the final frame, Ben Paulides was sent to the penalty box and the Phantoms were forced to pull Tibbett just to return to five-on-five hockey with under a minute to play. The Phantoms could find the equalizer allowing the Steel to take the 3-2 victory, their first over Youngstown this season. Wilson earned third star honors for Chicago, thanks to his exceptional game in net.

“Wilson won the game for them,” said Carr. “He was by far the difference maker in tonight’s game. He stopped a penalty shot, a breakaway and a two-on-one, I don’t think I have seen a performance like his in the past two seasons.”