Sunday, August 16, 2009

USA shutout Russia

Press Release

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Team USA potted six power-play goals, including two each from Philip McRae (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Jerry D’Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.), to capture a 6-0 victory over Russia at the Olympic Center here today. The win gave the United States three victories in four games against Russia at the 2009 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp.

Goaltender Mike Lee (Roseau, Minn.) earned the shutout, turning aside all 12 Russian shots. In four games, Team USA surrendered only six goals.

“We feel comfortable with a good group of guys coming out of this camp, particularly our goaltenders,” said Dean Blais (International Falls, Minn.), head coach of the 2010 U.S. National Junior Team. “We’ll use the next few months to evaluate these players and others to solidify our roster.”

Team USA took a 1-0 first-period lead with a power-play goal from McRae. The forward parked himself on the far post, corralled a rebound off a David Warsofsky (Marshfield, Mass.) shot, and sent the puck over the glove of Russian netminder Alexey Trifonov.

D’Amigo helped Team USA build a 4-0 second-period lead with power-play goals 7:29 and 14:44 into the frame. He added an assist on Jordan Schroeder’s (Prior Lake, Minn.) power-play tally at 11:05.

In the third period, both teams combined for 66 penalty minutes. Team USA took advantage of its opportunities, as McRae and Derek Stepan (Hastings, Minn.) notched power-play goals to finalize the scoring.

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

No comments: