Youngstown Phantoms credit culture change en route to first Clark Cup title

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Youngstown Phantoms clinched the organization’s first Clark Cup Friday night with a 1-0 win over the Fargo Force.

Andon Cerbone delivered the eventual game-winner 24 seconds into the third period — sending the roof off a sold out Covelli Centre — and Jacob Fowler pitched a 22-save shutout between the pipes, earning the Clark Cup Most Outstanding Player Award.

The win completes a three-game sweep for the Phantoms — who won eight of their nine postseason games — and the celebration is on in northeast Ohio.

“These guys deserve it,” head coach Ryan Ward said after the game. “It’s a group of kids that comes to the rink every day and have fun and work their tails off. They’re the most deserving group of kids I’ve ever been around and the best staff in the world.”

It’s been quite the turnaround for the Phantoms organization and an incredible first season under Ward. Ward led the Phantoms to a 38-19-4-1 regular-season record, which included a league-best 23-7-0-1 home record, and a second place finish in the Eastern Conference.

That momentum followed Youngstown into the postseason and the Phantoms have been arguably the league’s most consistent team since the calendar flipped to 2023.

It’s crazy to think Youngstown finished at the bottom of the USHL just two years ago and the Phantoms have seen a ton of change in the time since, from Ward to the front office and those on the ice.

Changing the culture has been a focus since day one and it’s led to a trophy celebration and an eventual banner.

“You want to change culture and you want to work, and it (requires) so many sacrifices by so many people,” Ward said. “These guys have just had a linear focus on everything we’re trying to do. And we changed everything.

“We changed how we practice, we changed how we worked out, we changed our daily schedule — and we had a group of kids that just believed in what we’re doing.”

“It took a world of effort to get this thing turned around and we did it. So I’m just so proud of this group,” added Youngstown captain Shane Lachance. “We’ve got such a resilient group and you even saw that tonight with the way the game started and we were able to get it done late.”

In a penalty-filled and chippy first period, the Force and Phantoms combined for 42 penalty minutes Friday night and struggled to get much rhythm. However, the game remained scoreless.

Both sides traded chances throughout the second period but for a third straight game, the Force and Phantoms remained tied after 40 minutes.

Cerbone wasted little time breaking the ice in the third, capitalizing on a turnover and snapping one past Matej Marinov's glove.

“When the moment’s big, Bones gets bigger,” Ward said. “Bringing him in in December changed our team and a huge credit to our management and everyone. They did an unbelievable job.”

“We’ve got a great group of guys and this has been such an unbelievable team to be part of,” added Cerbone, who netted his third game-winning goal of the playoffs. “I’ve known we’ve had a special group since I got here in (December) and we’ve stuck to our game.

"We got it done again tonight and it’s unbelievable to celebrate this with this group.”

The Force made a third-period push, especially in the final minutes. However, Fowler stood tall and the home crowd — which was a franchise record 5,624 — did its part as the clock wound down.

It’s the fifth time Fargo has lost in the Clark Cup Finals. The Anderson Cup Champs dominated the regular season and won five of their first six playoff games. Yet Fargo was able to muster just one goal in the series against Youngstown.

Fowler is a big reason why and the Boston College commit was greeted with M-V-P chants from the home faithful after the game.

“Fowls has been unbelievable all year,” Ward said. “He’s just so poised and he leads from the back. Unbelievable kid and he’s gonna make some NHL team extremely happy here in the near future.”

“Coming away with that win was massive for this organization and this city,” Fowler added. "I couldn't be more excited to be a Youngstown Phantom right now."

After losing to Fargo in their only previous trip to the Clark Cup Finals (2018), the Phantoms find themselves on top this time around.

It hasn't been easy, but it's been an "unbelievable ride" getting to this point.

“I said early on in the season that I thought Youngstown was a sleeping giant,” Ward said. “And that was our goal. I think internally we believed it and we have some really good players coming in next year and it’s not gonna stop.”

Youngstown 0-0-1 – 1
Fargo 0-0-0 – 0

First Period
None

Second Period
None

Third Period
YNG: Andon Cerbone (unassisted), 0:24

SOG: Youngstown 6-12-6 — 24, Fargo 5-9-8 — 22

Penalties-minutes: Youngstown 7-22, Fargo 9-26

Power Plays: Youngstown 0-3, Fargo 0-1

Saves: Jacob Fowler, Youngstown, 22; Matej Marinov, Fargo, 23

Attendance: 5,624