Staff photo / Brian Yauger Phantoms forward Brecken Smith skates to the corner during Saturday's contest against Sioux City.

The Youngstown Phantoms rode a dominant first period on Saturday, scoring three goals in the opening frame in a 6-1 victory over Sioux City.

“I loved our start,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said. “I thought we did a lot of things that we worked on all week. We were much tighter defensively today. I thought the guys did a good job, even with some adversity, with guys getting late suspensions, kind of a ‘next man up’ mentality. Kade Stengrim was awesome. (Michael Munroe) was good, so I felt good about it. From the net out, I thought we were good.”

After the team’s home-opening series against Lincoln, Ward talked about the team’s lack of goalscoring early in the season. He wasn’t worried, but noted that things needed to be tightened up.

This series, the Phantoms scored 11.

For Ward, it’s all about the process.

“It’s just sticking with the process and tweaking things, understanding how hard it is and how hard you have to work to score goals in this league. I think just buying into that and understanding it, we never really were concerned about this team scoring goals, but we had to do some things better,” Ward said. “I think this week in practice, we focused a lot on that. And I think the guys did a good job applying our practices to our games.”

Mikey Burchill was the catalyst on Saturday, scoring his fourth of the year during the halfway mark of the opening period.

Both Ryan Rucinski and Kuzma Voronin scored within minutes of Burchill, giving the Phantoms a 3-0 lead in the blink of an eye.

Stengrim got his first career USHL goal on Saturday, scoring in the middle frame.

Over the past few weeks he’s showcased his growth, and Ward was happy to see that pay off on the scoresheet.

“I think the thing with young players, and specifically Kade, is they kind of show you when they’re ready,” Ward said. “I think, and a credit to him, his attitude and work ethic and willingness to get better, and just the way he comes in the rink every day with a huge smile on his face, it’s pretty special. I think the last couple weeks, the kid kind of showed us through the way he practices and his understanding of what we’re trying to do, that he’s ready to take on a bigger role. So we’re gonna move him through that curriculum. I think it was great to see him, and obviously he’s all smiles. He’s a pleasure to have around. So we’re excited for the kid.”

Also getting his first USHL goal was defenseman Quentin Bourne.

He and Evan Jardine rounded out the scoring for the Phantoms in the victory, finding the back of the net in the third period.

This weekend marked the debut of forward Landan Resendes, who was traded from Sioux Falls earlier in the week.

“He was great,” Ward said. “He protects pucks, he’s got a ton of juice, tailor made for here. I think obviously it was tough to see Sammy (Ranallo) and Grant (Young) go, but at the end of the day, it’s just what we needed for this hockey team. And I think Landan did a great job, and as he gets more comfortable, he’s going to continue to fit in really well.”

Youngstown (5-5-0-0, 10 points) hits the road next weekend to take on Madison. They return home the following week to host Chicago.