Staff photo / Brian Yauger Youngstown’s Charlie Cerrato (14) handles the puck between two Dubuque defenders on Wednesday night at the Covelli Centre.

YOUNGSTOWN — With their backs against the wall, the Youngstown Phantoms needed a win to keep the season alive.

Unfortunately for the Phantoms, that win never came.

The Dubuque Fighting Saints scored a pair of goals in the back half of the third period to take down the Phantoms 2-0 to end Youngstown’s title defense run in Game 4 with a 3-1 series win.

“Credit to Dubuque. They played a great series. They played extremely tight. Obviously, their goaltender stood on his head and that’s a good team,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “We were the beneficiary of a team like that last year and won a championship. They played a great series and I thought our guys battled the entire time. Last night, I thought we were a couple bounces away from it being a different series and that’s how the playoffs go. It’s a credit to them.”

In almost a mirror image of Tuesday’s game, the goaltender showdown of Aiden Wright and Kevin Reidler was a hotly contested one.

Neither would yield until the third period, in which Dubuque forward Beckett Hendrickson played a rebound to beat out Wright to put the Fighting Saints up by a goal.

Six minutes later, they’d extend that lead with a goal by Lucas St. Louis.

With an empty net for the final three minutes, the much-needed goal to keep the Phantom’s hopes alive never came.

Wright saved 20 of 22 shots on net that he faced. The Vermont commit is one of 17 players set to return to next year’s group, and will be heavily relied on in net.

Other returners include Sascha Boumedienne, Coleson Hanrahan, Ryan Rucinski, and Zach Morin.

“I thought Neil Conway does a great job with our goalies in general and Aiden came in and he was very good for us,” Ward said. “We’re excited that he’s coming back next year and excited for all of these young guys. We have 17 returners coming back next season and we’re excited about the group rehab and excited to continue to see these guys climb the ladder.”

The Phantoms end the season with a 33-19-6-4 regular season record and a first-round series victory over Madison.

“I loved how hard our guys worked,” Ward said. “For a team that won a championship last year to have a year we had with the success we had, seeing guys grow and develop. I thought it was a great, great season in that regard. They did a great job. Credit to them and I’m just proud of our guys, how hard they battled and how much they laid it on the line every single night.”

Despite the success, the Phantoms never quite had all their pieces put together at the same time. Injuries plagued the team throughout the year, and when it wasnt that, it was something else. There were plenty of moments they could have laid down, but chose not to.

Repeating as champions isn’t easy, especially with a young group.

When looking back at this team, Ward has two words in mind to describe them.

“Gritty. Resilient. I think this team had their backs against the wall pretty much all year and never stopped punching,” Ward said. “I think that to me, just forging our character forward and laying down the foundation for all the young guys who are going to be here next year, and just that grit and passion that you play with as a Phantom, they represented us very well.”

Captain Andrew Strathmann is one of the departing players as he moves on to North Dakota.

The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect was brought in before last season and helped make a dramatic impact on the program moving forward.

“I’ve known (Strathmann) since he was 14 years old. I coached him in Chicago and then we obviously won a championship together here,” Ward said. “I thought that he represented our organization, with unbelievable character with unbelievable grit and he embodied what it meant to be a Youngstown Phantom for two years. I’m so proud of that kid and just everything he’s accomplished and where he’s come from. He’s going to have a wonderful career in North Dakota, and there’s a lot of success in his future.”

Ryan Botterill, Tomas Machu and Adam Pietila will also take their next steps as they will age out of the USHL.

Have an interesting story? Contact Brian Yauger by email at byauger@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @_brianyauger.