|
KAZAN, Russia - The U.S. National Under-18 Team
scored two goals in each of the first two periods, and tallied an empty-net
goal late in the third stanza to secure a 5-2 victory over Belarus here
today in both team's second game of the 2008 International Ice Hockey
Federation World Under-18 Hockey Championship.
"It
was good to keep improving our record in the tournament," said John
Hynes, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "Our players had
great focus in the past 48 hours and they are looking forward to a
well-deserved day off to rest, recuperate and prepare for our next match
against Sweden."
Belarus notched the first goal of the
afternoon at the 3:31 mark of the opening period when Alexander Fomin banged in a shot from right in front of the Team
USA net.
The United States knotted the score at 1-1 at
14:47 of the first frame as David Wohlberg (South Lyon, Mich.) netted his
first goal of the tournament, thanks to assists from Aaron Ness (Roseau,
Minn.) and Vinny Saponari
(Powder Springs, Ga.). Ness
wristed a pass towards the low slot from the
right point, which Saponari corralled and sent on
net. Wohlberg was then able slip the rebound
through the legs of Belarus
goaltender Alexander Borodulia.
Philip McRae (Chesterfield, Mo.) contributed his third marker of the tournament
less than four minutes later, on the power play, to give Team USA its
first lead of the game. Saponari gained the lone
assist on the goal after he directed a pass through the low slot that McRae
received from the bottom of the right circle. McRae beat Borodulia up high on the glove with a shot that ended
up inside the right post.
Team
USA built a two-goal
cushion at the 13:17 mark of the middle stanza, as a result of Jordan Schroeder's (Prior Lake, Minn.)
even-strength tally. Ryan Grimshaw (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up a
helper after his initial shot bounced off Borodulia
back onto the stick of Schroeder, who wristed a
shot from the slot into the net. Jeremy
Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) extended the Americans' advantage to three
goals when he recorded a power-play marker off assists from David Warsofsky (Marshfield, Mass.)
and Schroeder. While positioned near the faceoff
dot in the left circle, Morin took Warsofsky's
one-timer feed from the point and whistled it by Borodulia
on the glove side.
Sergei Sheleg gave Belarus its
second goal of the day at the six-minute mark of the third period, during a
5-on-3 power play.
With
2:35 remaining in regulation, Belarus pulled Borodulia from his net to gain the extra attacker. The
move proved fatal, however, as Justin
Florek (Marquette, Mich.)
added an empty-net goal at 18:09 of the session, courtesy of an assist from
McRae.
Team
USA netminder
Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.)
finished with 19 saves in the win, while Borodulia
stopped 40 shots for Belarus.
The
U.S. National Under-18 Team is off tomorrow and resumes preliminary round
competition Wednesday (April 16) with a game vs. Sweden at Kazan
Arena. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
local time (11 a.m. EDT.
Notes: Philip McRae leads all players at the 2008 IIHF World Under-18
Championship with five points (3-2) ... Jeremy Morin is tied for second
with four points (3-1) in the tournament ... All U.S. games in the 2008
IIHF World Under-18 Championship will be audiocast
live at USAHockey.com ... The 2008 IIHF World Under-18 Championship
features the best athletes under the age of 18 with participating teams
including the United States, Belarus, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany,
Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland ... Team USA won the silver medal
at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship and won the gold medal at the
IIHF World Under-18 Championship in both 2005 and 2006 to mark the first
time in U.S. hockey history that a team has earned back-to-back gold medals
at an IIHF event.
GAME
SUMMARY
Scoring By Period
First Period - Scoring: 1, BLR, Roman (Revenko, Drozd), 3:31; 1, USA,
Wohlberg (Ness, Saponari),
14:47; 2, USA,
McRae (Saponari), 18:15 (pp). Penalties: USA, Morin (interference), 1:25; BLR, Revenko (hooking), 8:27; USA, Wohlberg
(holding the stick), 11:07; BLR, Graborenko
(tripping), 18:07; BLR, Gribko (hooking), 18:30.
Second
Period - Scoring: 3, USA,
Schroeder (Grimshaw), 13:17; 4, USA, Morin
(Warsofsky, Schroeder), 18:03 (pp). Penalties: USA, Czarnik
(slashing), 2:20; BLR, Bogoleisha (holding),
4:44; USA,
Bourque (kneeing), 9:03; BLR, Sheleg (interfering
with the net), 17:21; BLR, Gotovets
(interference), 19:30.
Third Period - Scoring: 2, BLR, Sheleg (Gotovets, Fomin), 6:00; 5, USA, Florek
(McRae), 18:09 (en). Penalties: BLR, Gotovets
(high sticking), 1:55; USA,
Grimshaw (tripping), 4:59; USA, Czarnik
(delaying the game), 5:25; USA,
Grimshaw (interference), 5:36.
|
Shots by Period
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
|
BLR
|
|
7
|
3
|
11
|
21
|
|
USA
|
|
12
|
15
|
17
|
44
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Goaltenders
(SH/SV)
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Total
|
|
BLR, Borodulia, 57:35
|
|
12-10
|
15-13
|
17-16
|
44-38
|
|
USA, Maxwell, 60:00
|
|
7-6
|
3-3
|
11-10
|
21-19
|
Power Play: BLR 1-7; USA
2-7
Penalties: BLR
7-14; USA
7-14
Officials: Referees
- Rafall Kadyrov, Derek
Zalaski; Linesmen - Daniel Bechard,
Andreas Kowert
Attendance: 700
Team USA 2008 IIHF World
Under-18 Championship Schedule
April 13-23
• Kazan,
Russia
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
Venue
|
Time
(Local/EST)
|
|
April 10
|
Denmark (Ex.)
|
Kazan Arena
|
W, 5-0
|
|
April 13
|
Switzerland
|
Kazan Arena
|
W, 7-2
|
|
April 14
|
Belarus
|
Kazan Arena
|
W, 5-2
|
|
April 16
|
Sweden
|
Kazan Arena
|
7 p.m./11 a.m.
|
|
April 18
|
Finland
|
Kazan Arena
|
7 p.m./11 a.m.
|
|
April 20
|
Quarterfinals
|
TBA
|
TBA
|
|
April 21
|
Semifinals
|
TBA
|
TBA
|
|
April 23
|
Bronze Medal Game
|
Tatneft Arena
|
3 p.m./7 a.m.
|
|
April 23
|
Gold Medal Game
|
Tatneft Arena
|
7 p.m./11 a.m.
|
Venue Locations: Kazan
Arena(Kazan, Russia), Tatneft
Arena (Kazan,
Russia)
|
