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A bad first period dooms the Lumberjacks in a 7-3 road loss to Youngstown Phantoms

The Muskegon Lumberjacks were unable to overcome a rough first period on Thursday and fell to the Youngstown Phantoms 7-3 at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio.

The Jacks trailed 3-0 after one period, then played the Phantoms pretty even the rest of the way, but the damage was done.

Both teams had a lot of penalties, but Youngstown was the team that capitalized, scoring on four of five power play opportunities. The Lumberjacks only scored once on seven chances.

Muskegon, which lost its second straight game, dropped to .500 on the season at 16-16-2. Youngstown improved to 16-11-4.

The Jacks will return to action on Friday with a game against the Team USA 17-Under squad in Plymouth, Michigan before returning home for a Saturday night game against the Team USA 18-Under squad.

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Jacks’ rookie Sacha Boisvert, who scored his 12th goal of the season on Thursday. Photo/Tonya Pardon

The Phantoms took control of the game right away in the opening period, collecting goals from Shane LaChance at 6:09, Andrew Strathmann at 12:17 and William Whitelaw at 15:58. The final two goals of the period came on power plays.

The teams traded goals in the second period. Muskegon’s William Hughes found the net at the 2:21 mark, then Youngstown answered with a tally by Brandon Svoboda on a power play exactly one minute later, and Nick Williams at the 11:02 mark.

Sacha Boisvert netted his 12th goal of the season on a power play for the Lumberjacks at 15:47 of the second period, and  Youngstown led 5-2 headed into the third.

LaChance and Whitelaw both scored their second goals of the game down the stretch, at 10:30 and 19:42, respectively. LaChance’s goal came on a power play and Whitelaw’s was an empty-netter.

Muskegon’s final goal came from Michael Callow at the 12:46 mark of the third period.

Raythan Robbins started in goal for the Lumberjacks and stopped 11 of 16 shots. He was relieved by Conor Callaghan, who came into the game in the second period and stopped six of seven shots.

Jacob Fowler got the win for Youngstown, stopping 19 of 22 shots. [2]