Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Youngstown Phantoms forward William Whitelaw (8) celebrates with goaltender Jacob Fowler after their overtime victory over the Chicago Steel in the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday evening at the Covelli Centre.

YOUNGSTOWN — With a chance at the Eastern Conference crown on the line, 60 minutes wasn’t enough.

The Phantoms secured their first Eastern Conference title since 2017-18 after a William Whitelaw goal sealed the deal for Youngstown in a 2-1 overtime victory, defeating the Chicago Steel 3-1 in a best-of-five series.

“I thought it was a great game,” coach Ryan Ward said. “I thought our guys, the way they competed, like the resolve that they showed, was kind of a microcosm of how our season has gone.

“It was just a great win.”

After a period of scoreless play, the Phantoms found themselves in a deficit early in the second period. Chicago winger Jack Harvey scored the game’s first goal in the opening seconds of the team’s first power play.

Through 40 minutes, that was the only shot to hit the back of the net.

Christian Manz was a brick wall for the Steel, recording 41 saves. Manz stifled numerous Phantom opportunities, especially early on.

Phantoms goalie Jacob Fowler lived up to his reputation as the top goaltender in the USHL this series, and continued that hot stretch in Game 4. Fowler recorded 28 saves and provided that extra bit of cushion a team needs when going up against an elite offense.

“You’re playing the most dynamic offensive team in the league and you’re going to have to have a couple of big plays that thwart a scoring chance, and I think when you have Jacob Fowler in the net, he bails us out,” Ward said. “He bails us out when we need him and I think it was no different tonight. … Jacob should be the highest goalie taken in the NHL Draft this year. If you just watch what he’s doing here, it’s outstanding.”

At the midway point of the third period, Chicago had a breakaway chance to extend its lead, but Phantoms defenseman Andrew Centrella chased down the attacker and a well-timed poke check combined with the efforts of Fowler kept the score at 1-0.

“Centrella has been fantastic all series. He’s a bit of an unsung hero for us,” Ward said. “He wears a letter on his jersey for a reason. And that was an unbelievable sequence of events.”

That sequence sparked a sense of urgency in the Phantoms as they flipped the ice and continued to set up chance after chance on net.

It culminated with winger Kenta Isogai playing hero, scoring the game-tying goal with just two minutes left in the period.

Tomas Machu and Andon Cerbone each picked up an assist on the goal. Cerbone is still performing at a point-per-game pace, with six points this postseason in as many games.

Neither team could break the 1-1 tie in the final two minutes, so an extra 20 was needed.

Well, more accurately, 7 minutes and 50 seconds.

Whitelaw once again showed why he’s been a top NHL Draft prospect all year, scoring the dagger.

“Is there anyone else that’s going to score that goal? He’s a big time player,” Ward said.

There’s going to be a rematch of the 2017-18 Clark Cup as Youngstown takes on the Fargo Force in the Clark Cup Finals.

Game 1 is set for Friday night in Fargo.

“Fargo is going to be our toughest test yet. Nick Oliver’s the best coach in the league, (president of hockey operations) Carey Eades does a great job, the whole organization is unbelievable,” Ward said. “We have to be ready. We’re going to enjoy this tonight because they deserve it. We’ll get on the bus tomorrow and we’ll head north and we’ll be ready. I can guarantee you that.”

byauger@tribtoday.com