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DMITROV, Russia -
Jordan Schroeder (Prior Lake, Minn.) netted
three goals and two assists, and provided the game-winner at the
3:10 mark of overtime to help launch the U.S. National Under-18
Team past Finland, 6-5, in the second day of the 2007 Four
Nations Tournament Saturday afternoon.
"It wasn't easy, but we
won on mental toughness, conditioning and team camaraderie,"
said John Hynes, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team.
Schroeder put Team USA
ahead by a count of 1-0 just over four minutes into the game
with an unassisted goal. After gaining possession of the puck
off the faceoff, Schroeder skated the length of the ice near the
left wall and eventually beat the Finnish goalie with a wrist
shot.
Finland tallied
back-to-back goals at 6:31 and 8:41of the first period off a
pair of markers from Pekka Jormakka. The second goal came with a
man advantage.
Team USA evened the
score at 2-2 midway through the frame as Colin Moore
(Medfield, Mass.) lit up the scoreboard on the power play.
Schroeder found Moore with a pass in the seam, and Moore then
put a shot into the back of the net. Vinny Saponari
(Powder Springs, Ga.) added the second assist on the play.
Saku Salmela gave
Finland a 3-2 advantage with 1:48 left in the first session.
Nick Maricic
(Alta Loma, Calif.) was pulled out of the Team USA net in favor
of Joe Cannata (Wakefield, Mass.) during the
first intermission.
Toni Rajala pushed
Finland's lead to 4-2 with a goal at 10:44 of the second period.
Danny Kristo
(Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored Team USA's third goal at 19:19 of
the second stanza, courtesy of a helper from Schroeder. After
receiving a pass from Schroeder by the left wall, Kristo skated
over to the right circle and beat the Finnish goaltender with a
snap shot up high on the blocker side.
Team USA struck again 23
seconds into the third frame when Schroeder scored with a shot
from the slot that ended up high in the net on the glove side of
Finland's netminder. Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh,
Pa.) earned the first assist after creating a turnover and
directing a pass ahead to Schroeder near the Finnish offensive
zone. Saponari was also credited with a helper, his second of
the day.
Saponari put the U.S.
National Under-17 Team back in front 1:21 later with a
power-play goal. David Warsofsky (Marshfield,
Mass.) set up a perfect one-time pass on the backdoor that
Saponari converted
With 5:05 to go in
regulation, Teemu Hartikainen scored the equalizer for Finland
on the power play.
The scoring sequence for
the game-winner began near center ice, where Danny Kristo
unloaded on a Finnish defender. The hit forced a turnover, and
Kristo and Joe Marciano (Alta Loma, Calif.)
teamed up to move the puck ahead to Schroeder. Schroeder went
around several Finnish defensemen and then slipped a backhander
up high on the netminder's blocker side to seal the victory.
Cannata picked up the
win in goal for Team US after playing in the final two periods
of regulation, and the overtime session.
The U.S. National
Under-18 Team will play Switzerland in its final game of the
2007 Four Nations Tournament tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. local time
and 11:30 a.m. ET.
NOTES:
Team USA is 1-1-0 at the 2007 Four Nations Tournament ... Sweden
is 2-0-0, Finland is 1-1-0 and Switzerland is 0-2-0 ... Finland
and Sweden play in the other game at the Four Nations Tournament
tomorrow ... Jordan Schroeder's five-point performance was a
season high. He has moved into first place on the team with 14
points (6-8) ... Vinny Saponari's three-point game was a season
best. He ranks second on the squad with 13 points (5-8--13) ...
The number of shots taken by both teams was not available at the
time of this release.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period
| FIN |
3 - |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
| USA |
2 - |
1 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Schroeder (unassisted), 4:21; 1,
FIN, Jormakka (Turkulainen), 6:31; 2, FIN, Jormakka (Lajunen),
8:41; 2, USA, Moore (Schroeder, Saponari), 15:25 (pp); 3, FIN,
Salmela (unassisted), 18:12. Penalties: USA, Gaul (checking from
behind); 0:18; USA, Florek (interference), 1:11; USA, Kristo
(checking from behind), 7:40; USA, Wohlberg (hooking), 12:11;
FIN, Helenius (slashing), 14:04.
Second Period - Scoring:
3, FIN, Salmela (unassisted), 18:12; 4, FIN, Rajala (Hietikko),
10:44; 3, USA, Kristo (Schroeder), 19:19. Penalties: FIN,
Turkulainen (kneeing), 7:08; USA, Wohlberg (hooking), 7:44; FIN,
Pitkanen (interference), 11:54; USA, Warsofsky (interference),
12:37; FIN, Sallinen (interference), 14:14; USA, Lofquist
(interference), 14:54; USA, McCarey (slashing), 15:23; FIN,
Sallinen (tripping), 17:08; FIN, Kivisto (roughing), 18:12;
Third Period - Scoring:
4, USA, Schroeder (Gaul, Saponari), 0:23; 5, USA, Saponari (Warsofsky),
1:44 (pp); 5, FIN, Hartkikainen (Turkulainen), 14:55. Penalties:
FIN, Salmela (tripping), 0:41; FIN, Kivisto (holding), 4:37;
FIN, Salmela (holding), 10:46; FIN, Hietikko (roughing), 14:21;
USA, Gaul (head check), 14:21; USA, Gaul (10-game misconduct),
14:21; FIN, Pitkanen (checking from behind), 18:53.
Overtime - Scoring: 6,
USA, Schroeder (Marciano, Kristo), 3:10. No Penalties.
Power Play:
FIN 2-9; USA 2-12
Penalties: FIN 12-24; USA 10-28
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