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U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Records Historic Win at Minnesota Duluth

December 14, 2007 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


DULUTH, Minn. - The U.S. National Under-18 Team used goals from Sam Lofquist (Faribault, Minn.) and Vinny Saponari (Power Springs, Ga.) to skate to a 2-1 victory over the University of Minnesota Duluth in front of 3,655 fans at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center Friday night. Joe Cannata (Wakefield, Mass.) pushed his record to 6-8-1 on the year after stopping 31 of the 32 shots he saw for Team USA.

"For us to come into a building like this and hold a WCHA team to just one power-play goal means we had a great overall team effort," said Tim Taylor, assistant coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team. "This was a real team win, as we played all four lines, all eight defenseman and Joe [Cannata] was strong in the net. It's pretty special to see this squad come together like it did tonight."

The Bulldogs tallied the first goal of the evening on the power play at 6:15 as Andrew Carroll tipped a shot from the point past Cannata.

Team USA tied the score at one apiece just 32 seconds later when Lofquist unleashed a rocket from the right point that banged off the crossbar into the net on UMD goaltender Kenny Reiter's blocker side. Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn.) provided the lone assist on the goal, his sixth of the year.

Saponari posted his first game-winning goal of the 2007-08 campaign 44 seconds into the second stanza with an unassisted tally.

Neither team scored for the remainder of the contest.

Kenny Reiter finished with 21 saves for UMD.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team (12-12-1-1) concludes its trip to the Twin Ports tomorrow night when it takes on the University of Wisconsin-Superior at Wessman Arena. The puck will drop at 7:05 p.m. CT.

Notes: The U.S. National Under-18 Team defeated a Western Collegiate Hockey Association team for the first time in the 11-year history of the National Team Development Program ... Team USA is 1-1-0 all-time vs. Minnesota Duluth ... Team USA has received game-winning goals from 10 different players in the 2007-08 campaign ... Tim Taylor served as the head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team tonight.

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