SIOUX FALLS, Iowa – The Youngstown Phantoms out-shot, out-hit and overwhelmed the Sioux Falls Stampede Friday night at IBP Arena. Mike Ambrosia scored two goals and the Phantoms jumped out to a 5-0 lead before cruising to 7-2 win in their second game of the United States Hockey League Fall Classic.

The Phantoms came out flying in the first period and the Stampede struggled to match their intensity. Ambrosia put them up 1-0 less than seven minutes into the contest, ringing one off the post and past Sioux Falls goaltender Charlie Lindgren, with an assist from Austin Cangelosi.

A little less than five minutes later the pair struck again – this time short-handed – when Ambrosia roofed one top shelf on Lindgren off a great lead pass from Cangelosi.

"[Cangelosi] made a great pass to the slot and I just tried to get the puck off quick and it went in the net," Ambrosia said.

"Any time you get a short-handed goal it's a bonus," Head Coach Anthony Noreen said. "We want constant puck pressure, even when we're killing penalties.

"We pressured the puck – they kind of sat back a bit – it turned into a scoring chance and we buried it. That got the snowball rolling."

Stephen Collins stretched the lead to 3-0 with just 1:29 remaining when he faked a pass to Alex Gacek before sneaking the puck in low, glove-side. Alexander Dahl and Gacek got the helpers and the Phantoms carried the lead into the first intermission.

The Phantoms refused to pull off the throttle in the second period and added to the lead early. With Sioux Falls forward Bryan Moore in the box for cross-checking, the Phantoms power play absolutely picked apart the Stampede penalty kill and Richard Zehnal found JT Stenglein wide open in the slot where he coolly slipped the puck into an open net. It was Stenglein's second goal in as many days and stretched the Phantoms' lead to 4-0 just 1:14 into the period.

"I'm playing with a lot more confidence than I had last year," Stenglein said. "That's making a huge difference right now."

Cangelosi decided to try his hand at shooting and less than two minutes later he added a goal of his own when he ripped into a one-timer from the left circle to put the Phantoms up 5-0.

The Stampede, however, would not be blanked for a second straight period and Evan Moore beat goaltender Sean Romeo with 11:11 remaining in the period, but the Phantoms would rebound. With just 2:02 left before the intermission, defenseman Justin Stevens made it a five-goal margin once again and the period ended with Youngstown leading 6-1.

Both teams traded goals in the final stanza. Dylan Margonari beat Lindgren with 4:05 remaining while Todd Skiving stuffed one past Romeo in the midst of a scrum for a power-play tally in the waning minutes to make it 7-2. Stevens completed his Gordie Howe Hat Trick of a goal, an assist and a fight when he and won a bout with Stampede forward Blake Roubos in the final seconds of the game.

"It all comes back to our blue collar identity and Justin Stevens is a prime example of the identity," Noreen said. "He leads on the ice, he leads off the ice and he's not afraid to mix it up if he has to."

When the dust settled the Phantoms skated off with a 7-2 victory and a 2-0 start to their third Fall Classic. They will wrap up the showcase on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. EST (4:00 p.m. CST) against the Lincoln Stars at the Tyson Center.

Phantoms By The Numbers

35 – Shots on goal

30 – Saves

75% – Penalty Kill (3-for-4)

50% – Power Play (1-for-2)

15 PIM – Stevens

1G-2A-3PTS – Cangelosi

2G-0A-2PTS – Ambrosia

1G-1A-2PTS – Stevens, Collins