Phantoms Win Wild Game; 8-7 against a strong Team English team

West Michigan Phantoms 8, Team English 7

Sunday, June 14, 2026 • Walker Ice & Fitness Center • Walker, Michigan

If Sunday’s game proved anything, it’s that no lead is safe and no game is over until the final horn sounds.

The West Michigan Phantoms survived a wild back-and-forth battle against Team English, earning an 8-7 victory in one of the highest-scoring games in recent franchise memory. The game featured 15 total goals, multiple momentum swings, a furious Team English comeback, and ultimately a Phantoms win that pushed the home crowd through every emotion imaginable.

The Phantoms entered the game shorthanded, missing Andrew Erickson (#91), Brad Zehr (#21), Chris Laux (#15), Ryker Barber (#26), and newly-signed defenseman Ezra Gennello. Despite the absences, the offense exploded early behind a dominant performance from the line of Hunter Tuggle (#11), Clay Potochny (#18), and Trevor Zenas (#10).

Matt Myers (#72) got the scoring started just 2:02 into the game, finishing a play set up by Hunter Tuggle and Natalie Nemes to give the Phantoms a 1-0 lead.

Team English answered only thirty-five seconds later when Jason Kiosus scored to even the game at 1-1, but the Phantoms quickly seized control.

Clay Potochny restored the lead with 7:22 remaining in the opening period off assists from Hunter Tuggle and Zack Kinney (#24). Trevor Zenas then extended the advantage to 3-1 after converting a feed from Potochny. Just sixteen seconds later, Hunter Tuggle buried a chance created by Potochny and Zenas, sending the Phantoms into the first intermission holding a commanding 4-1 lead.

After dominating much of the opening period, the Phantoms appeared poised to cruise to victory.

Instead, Team English began chipping away.

Brink Sterling scored early in the second period before Andrew Uturo added an unassisted goal to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Phantoms responded when Zack Kinney finished a setup from Jason Young (#7) with 6:09 remaining, pushing the lead back to two goals at 5-3.

Team English refused to go away. Mark Uturo scored with 3:08 remaining to make it 5-4, but once again Kinney answered. With the Phantoms utilizing an extra attacker late in the period, Kinney struck again off another Jason Young assist with only thirty-nine seconds remaining, giving West Michigan a 6-4 lead heading into the third period.

The Phantoms looked to have regained control.

They hadn’t.

Trevor Zenas opened the third period scoring with 11:04 remaining, finishing a beautiful passing sequence from Hunter Tuggle and Clay Potochny to stretch the lead to 7-4.

Moments later, however, Team English mounted one final charge. An unassisted goal from Team English’s #11 cut the lead to 7-5. Hunter Tuggle answered for the Phantoms with 1:09 remaining, converting passes from Potochny and Zenas to make it 8-5 and seemingly put the game away.

Instead, the final minute turned chaotic.

Team English’s #11 scored another unassisted goal with 53 seconds remaining before #66 added another marker with just 21 seconds left to pull within one goal at 8-7.

Fortunately for the Phantoms, there wasn’t enough time left for another comeback. West Michigan survived the frantic finish and skated away with an 8-7 victory.

While the offense was outstanding, the game also highlighted areas needing improvement. The Phantoms’ top line of Tuggle, Potochny, and Zenas combined for an incredible 14 points, but was also on the ice for a disappointing six goals against. Despite carrying much of the offensive load, the line will undoubtedly be looking for a stronger two-way effort moving forward.

Offensively, however, the numbers were impossible to ignore.

Hunter Tuggle finished with 2 goals and 3 assists, Clay Potochny recorded 1 goal and 4 assists, Trevor Zenas contributed 2 goals and 2 assists, Zack Kinney added 2 goals and 1 assist, and Jason Young chipped in 2 assists.