Sunday, February 21, 2010

Nieto Named Six Nations MVP; Clendening Earns Top Defenseman Honors

Press Release

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) was named the most valuable player and Adam Clendening (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) was named the best defenseman at the 2010 Under-18 Six Nations Tournament in Minsk, Belarus.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team finished second with a 4-0-0-1 record at the tournament, which ran from Feb. 9-14.

Nieto led the U.S. with seven points including a team and tournament-best five goals. Additionally, Nieto finished the event with a plus-9 rating, which also was tops among all players. The forward recorded a hat trick and an assist in Team USA’s final game against the Czech Republic on Feb. 14 to put an exclamation point on the event for Team USA.

Clendening led Team USA’s defensive corps with four points (2-2), which included the game-winning goal against Sweden Feb. 11. The defenseman posted a plus-7 rating, which was tops on Team USA and tied for fourth overall at the tournament and second among defensemen.

Team USA will return to international competition in April when it looks to defend its gold medal at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship, which will also be held in Minsk, Belarus, with Bobruisk serving as the secondary site for the event.

(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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