KANKAANPAA, Finland - Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.) and Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) each scored as the U.S. National Under-18 Team fell to host Finland, 3-2, here tonight in its only pre-tournament contest in preparation for the 2009 Under-18 Four Nations Cup.
Team USA got out to an early 1-0 lead after Arnold slammed home a rebound off of an Adam Clendening (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) shot just 1:28 into the game for a power-play goal. Teemu Rautiainen knotted the score when he collected a rebound and slipped the puck past Andy Iles (Ithaca, N.Y.) at 9:00. Iles stopped four shots in his only 20 minutes of action.
Nieto regained the lead for the U.S. when he took a feed from Bryan Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and rifled the puck past Sami Aittokallio 5:24 into the second stanza. Finland answered back with just 1:46 to play in the period when Micke-Max Asten put the puck past new Team USA goaltender Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) to make it 2-2.
In the final frame, Julius Nyqvist fired a shot past Campbell from the top of the faceoff circles to give Finland the 3-2 lead. Despite pouring 10 shots on new Finland netminder Riku Harma, Team USA was unable to get the equalizer, allowing Finland to escape with the 3-2 win.
Campbell made 14 saves on the night.
Team USA kicks off the 2009 Under-18 Four Nations Cup Friday against Sweden in Sakyla, Finland, at 11:30 a.m. EST.
NOTES: Forwards Nick Bjugstad (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Charlie Coyle (East Weymouth, Mass.) were added to the U.S. National Under-18 Team roster for the 2009 Under-18 Four Nations Cup. Bjugstad is a senior forward at Blaine (Minn.) High School and Coyle is a member of the Eastern Junior Hockey League's South Shore Kings... Team USA out shot Finland by a 32-21 margin... The U.S. National Under-18 Team is one of five U.S. National Teams, including the U.S. Women's National Team, U.S. Men's Select Team, U.S. Junior Select Team and U.S. National Under-17 Team, are in action during the International Ice Hockey Federation's November international break... To stay up-to-date on all of the U.S. National Teams competing this week, visit usahockey.com.
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