Clipped on the Road
Robertson and Dorwart Strike in 3rd Period in Comeback Effort
March 22, 2026
Charlotte, NC – Tucker Robertson (13th) and Karsen Dorwart (9th) got the Phantoms on the board in a third-period comeback effort on the road but ultimately, the deficit proved to be too much to overcome as the Charlotte Checkers emerged with a 6-2 decision on Sunday afternoon to complete a sweep of the weekend series.
Louis Domingue (31/33) was stellar in net while Brian Pinho (11th, 12th) again paced the Checkers’ attack with a pair of goals.
It was still a close call for the Phantoms, however. Trailing 3-0 in the third period following several strong denials from Domingue, shorthanded specialist Robertson got the Phantoms on the board at 3-1. And a long 5-on-3 gave Lehigh Valley (27-29-6) even more life when Dorwart pushed it in to make it 4-2. A blind and fortunate empty-netter for the Checkers sealed the weekend and wrapped up Lehigh Valley’s efforts at a frenetic and miraculous third-period rally.
The Phantoms also got out to a strong start in this game with a shots advantage of 6-0 as well as 10-1. But Domingue was tough and helped Charlotte find its footing.
Charlotte (37-20-5) broke through with back-to-back goals late in the first period. Mitch Vande Sompel (4th) cranked it home on the power play at 14:54 and Brian Pinho converted on a shorthanded odd-man rush with Sandis Vilmanis at 16:25 to put the Checkers ahead at 2-0 into the break.
Boris Katchouk dazzled his way to the net front twice in the second period only to be stuffed a pair of times on some of Domingue’s strongest saves of the afternoon. Lehigh Valley also killed a double-minor power play after a scuffle at the bench to stay within two. In total, the two teams combined for 16 power plays in the penalty-filled affair with each squad finishing with a 1-for-8 performance while also giving him shorthanded markers.
Pinho scored again at 17:52 into the second period taking the shot himself on an odd-man rush and converting from the left dot to the upper-right corner past Carson Bjarnason.
Robertson was in the clear after an intercept by Zayde Wisdom and rifled home the team’s first of the day at 11:24 into the third to get the Phantoms back into the game at 3-1.
But Tobias Bjornfoot (3rd) got it back just 55 seconds later making a cut to the net-front from the blue line and chipping in a Ben Steeves connection from the high slot. The Phantoms were again down by three at 4-1.
Back-to-back penalties by the Checkers gave Lehigh Valley a late opportunity to make it very interesting. Dorwart scored on the rebound from the right side of the net just as the 5-on-3 had expired to make it 4-2. And the Phantoms called their timeout with over three minutes left in search of another. But Riece Gaber had a blind backhander from the blueline that bounced into the empty net to make it 5-2 and Noah Gregor cut into the slot to fire one five-hole past Bjarnason to finish the 6-2 result.
The Phantoms are 0-4-2 against the Checkers with two games remaining in the regular-season series. Lehigh Valley’s Magic Number remains at 21 points with 10 games to go.
The Phantoms are back at home this weekend with home games on Friday, March 28 against the Springfield Thunderbirds and Saturday, March 29 against the Hershey Bears.
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