Saturday, November 8, 2008

NTDP is Having a Good Week

USA Beats Sweden

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.) tallied a goal and added an assist to help the U.S. National Under-18 Team defeat Sweden, 3-1, here tonight in its third game at the 2008 Men's Under-18 Four Nations Cup. With the win, Team USA ended round-robin play with a 2-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record and advanced to the championship game tomorrow against Finland.

"Tonight was a big game for our guys against a very talented Team Sweden," said Ron Rolston, head coach of Team USA. "We came up with one of our best defensive efforts as a team and had excellent goaltending from Adam Murray."

Kenny Ryan(Franklin Village, Mich.)put Team USA ahead, 1-0, with a shorthanded marker at 17:29 of the first period. The goal came after Ryan stripped a Swedish defender of the puck at the U.S. blue line, broke in alone and fired a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net.

D'Amigo scored a power-play tally just 42 seconds into the second stanza. Cam Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich.) fired a low slapshot that D'Amigo tipped between the legs of netminder Robin Lehner. Carl Klingberg cut Sweden's deficit in half after he tipped Simon Bertilsson's shot past Adam Murray (Anchorage, Alaska) at 17:42.

In the third period, David Valek (Orem, Utah) made it 3-1 after he tapped a rebound past a down and out Lehner at 10:13.

Murray made 30 saves to earn the victory.

Team USA will meet Finland in the championship game at 8 p.m. ET at 1980 Herb Brooks Arena on Saturday. Sweden will play Switzerland in the third-place match-up at 4 p.m.

NOTES: Jerry D'Amigo was named U.S. Player of the Game ... Cam Fowler is atop Team USA's leader board for the tournament with four points on four assists, while Kenny Ryan has paced Team USA in goals with three.

Brandon Maxwell didn't play because it was Murry's turn in the net.

U-17 Team Defeats Slovakia

MONTHEY, SwitzerlandThe United States National Under-17 Team defeated Slovakia, 7-0, here tonight its opening game at the 2008 Under-17 Four Nations Cup. Team USA outshot Slovakia, 47-23, with seven separate players scoring in the win.

"It was a total team victory tonight," said John Hynes, head coach of Team USA. "We played well and are looking forward to our challenge with Russia."

The U.S. got on the board early when Jason Zucker(Las Vegas, Nev.) scored on a shot over the glove of Slovakian goaltender Dominik Riecicky at 1:31 of the opening period. Shane Sooth (Canyon County, Calif.) gave the U.S. a two-goal lead at 4:50 and Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) stopped all seven shots he faced as Team USA led at intermission, 2-0.

Chase Balisy (Fullerton, Calif.) drove to the net and beat Riecicky glove sideat 13:50 of the middle stanza to give Team USA a 3-0 lead.The U.S. scored twice more and Campbell remained perfect in net as Team USA led 5-0 after 40 minutes.

The third period was highlighted by two excellent U.S. goals late in the frame. Both Matthew Nieto (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) and Emerson Etem (Long Beach, Calif.) beat Slovakian defenders and scored from the side of the net to push the U.S. advantage to 7-0. Campbell remained dominant and stopped all eight shots he faced in the period to preserve the shutout.

The U.S. National Under-17 Team continues play in the 2008 Under-17 Four Nations Cup tomorrow (Nov. 8) when it faces Russia at 8:30 a.m. EST, in Monthey, Switzerland.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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