Sunday, February 12, 2012

5 Nations: U.S. beats Russia

Press Release

PORI, Finland - Jared Rutledge (Chicago, Ill.) turned aside 23 shots, as the U.S. National Under-18 Team blanked Russia, 3-0, in the final game at the 2012 Five Nations Tournament this evening at Pori Arena. With the win, Team USA finished the tournament in third place with a 2-0-0-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record.


"I'm proud of how our guys came out and played today," said Danton Cole, head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "Obviously we would have liked to win the tournament, but this experience will help better our team in the future."


Team USA and Russia skated through the first two periods without a goal. The U.S. outshot its opponent 31-14 in the first and second frames, but was unable to beat Russian netminder Andrey Vasilevskiy. Rutledge turned aside all 14 shots he faced and the teams entered the third period scoreless.


Quentin Shore (Denver, Colo.) put the U.S. on the board at 1:15 of the final frame. Riley Barber (Livonia, Mich.) earned the lone assist. Team USA's lead doubled when Brady Skjei (Lakeville, Minn.) netted a goal off a pass from Miles Koules (Los Angeles, Calif.). Barber capped the period and iced the game at 7:01 to give the U.S. a 3-0 victory. Nicolas Kerdiles (Irvine, Calif.) collected an assist on the final tally.


Rutledge stopped all nine shots he faced in the third period and 23 shots total in the shutout for Team USA, while Vasilevskiy made 43 saves in the loss for Russia.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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