BOARDMAN, Ohio -- The end of a record-setting season came sooner than hoped for, but Anthony Palumbo hopes it becomes another building block in the Traverse City North stars franchise.
Mahoning Valley controlled the first two periods on its home ice and held on for a 2-1 Game 5 victory that moves the Phantoms into the divisional finals.
"We did some great things this year," said Palumbo, the Stars' head coach and general manager. "I'm proud of what we did. We've built some momentum. Hopefully, the guys that come back can build on this next year."
Mahoning took control with a pair of second-period goals by Michael Pateras and Robert Harrison, outshooting TC 21-15 in the first two frames.
"They really came out in the first two periods and outplayed us," Palumbo said. "In the third, we absolutely played our best period of the year and just couldn't bury it. (Jordan Tibbett) was just phenomenal. I'd say we were in their zone 70 percent of the time."
Eric O'Hearn scored two with exactly two minutes left off Mike Schenfeld and Garrett Thompson assists to pull within a goal as the Stars held a 9-5 advantage in shots in the final period.
The Phantoms went back to Tibbett -- who made 23 saves on 24 shots -- in net after starting Garrett Bartus in both games in TC. C.J. Motte had 24 saves for TC.
The Stars will lose five players who hit the league's age limit -- O'Hearn, Nate Urbaniak, Marc Thompson, Tyler Stephens and Brandon Stephenson.
The loss ends the North Stars record-setting season, a campaign in which the club set marks for regular season wins (34) and points (75).
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