ANN ARBOR, MI - The Tri-City Storm (7-7-1, 15 pts) outshot Team USA - U17 (3-9-2, 8 pts) 59-23, but lose the game Friday night 3-1 at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. USA goalie John Gibson made 46 consecutive saves before allowing a third period goal to the Storm.
The U17 team scored the opening goal at the 15:18 mark of the first period, as Zac Larraza scored his third goal in USHL competition.
Despite being outshot in the second period 25-4, USA's Andy Ryan would score their second goal of the game with 2:13 left in the second period to take a 2-0 lead to the third period.
The Storm's Anthony DeCenzo scored 3:34 into the third period to end the shutout bid for Gibson, as DeCenzo scored off the rebound shot from Michael Montrose cutting the lead to 2-1.
USA capped the scoring on an empty net goal with 21-seconds left in the game, as Blake Pietila scored the late insurance marker.
Until DeCenzo's goal in the third period, the Storm was goalless for 113-minutes and 48-seconds over a three-game span. Tri-City has only scored eight goals in the six-game losing streak.
Steven Bolton (1-1-0) made 20 saves on 22 shots in the loss for the Storm. Gibson (1-1-0) made 58 saves on 59 shots in the win for USA.
The 59 shots on goal by the Storm was a season-high and set the USHL record for most shots on goal in a single-game this season.
The Storm on the power play was 0-4, while USA was 0-1 with the man-advantage. The Storm took only one penalty in the game and that was 12-seconds into the first period, as Matt Johnson went to the box for roughing.
The Storm will play Team USA's U18 squad Saturday night in Ann Arbor. Tri-City will return home on November 25th to play the Sioux City Musketeers.
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